


Seeking Warmth

by LelMoriarty



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Anal Sex, Blood and Injury, Enemies to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, M/M, Self-Harm, Violence, X-EXO Clone Byun Baekhyun, X-EXO Clone Kim Jongdae | Chen, X-EXO Clone Kim Jongin | Kai, X-EXO Clone Kim Junmyeon | Suho, X-EXO Clone Oh Sehun, X-EXO Clone Park Chanyeol, X-EXO Clones (EXO), a shit ton of kissing, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:48:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27540274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LelMoriarty/pseuds/LelMoriarty
Summary: X-Kāi gets captured by EXO. They don't want to kill him so they take turns watching him. They are quick to realise that Kāi is not the monster they thought he was and that he's simply touch-starved.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Kim Junmyeon | Suho
Comments: 12
Kudos: 134
Collections: Honey Boy: Round 1





	Seeking Warmth

Junmyeon is chewing on the inside of his right cheek, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Alright, but like… what now?” Chanyeol asks, gaze flicking between his leader and the unconscious creature that looks so much like Jongin lying in front of them. 

Junmyeon wishes he had an answer. 

“Let’s kill him,” Baekhyun says with a shrug. 

“No,” Jongin hisses, “we can’t do that!” 

“Minseok would agree with me.” 

“Well, Minseok isn’t here,” Junmyeon says, “and neither are Yixing and Kyungsoo.”

The missing parties are currently hunting down their clones who seem to have run off, unleashed to cause chaos in every city they show up. They don’t know why these three clones in particular had separated from their team. Either way, Minseok, Kyungsoo and Yixing are doing their best to stop them.

“He’s tried to kill us like a hundred times,” Sehun points out, tapping his chin as he eyes the unconscious clone. 

“You’re exaggerating,” Jongin replies, the beginning of a pout on his face. 

The creature stirs and everyone reflexively flinches. That thing is an absolute beast in battle, appearing in front of their victim out of nowhere to rip them apart with its bare hands. EXO has seen it. Junmyeon should agree with Baekhyun, killing it would be the right choice for the greater good. The safe choice. It doesn’t feel right though, they’re not killers, they’re not like their clones. 

Jongdae is the first to carefully step forward. They had cuffed the clone’s hands behind his back. It’s an unspoken fact that despite their bravery they are terrified of their own duplicates. Not only are they ruthless and murderous, but they also use their powers in cruel ways that EXO doesn’t even think of. Besides, there is just something undeniably unsettling about someone else having your face and a horrifying glint behind their glassy eyes. On top of that they’re created to be a better and more obedient version of you, who also happens to fight you on the regular. 

Jongdae holds out his hand, electricity running through his fingers. The creature on the floor groans through clenched teeth. Jongdae lets off after a few seconds. It should be enough to keep him… contained. 

Jongin looks worried. He’s scared of course, but he’s also very aware of how Jongdae’s lightning feels. They had purposefully focused on Jongin’s clone tonight. EXO had enough opportunities to observe their counterparts and have found the teleporting creature to be X-EXO’s weakest link. Not in regard of skill or power, it’s simply that he seems to be the one with least control and no real strategy. He forgets himself now and then, having way too much fun. Baekhyun’s clone can be very playful too, but he is by far not as unhinged as Jongin’s. He is also noticeably attached to his teammates, separated he would be the least functional out of all of them. So after deciding on him, Jongin had offered himself as guinea pig to find out how to ideally capture him.

“We’ll take turns watching him,” Junmyeon decides. 

“What if he wakes up?” Chanyeol inquires, eyes wide. 

“I mean, he’ll wake up at some point,” Jongdae says, “I can’t continue doing this to him without seriously injuring him. And he has to eat. Do they eat? Probably, right?”

“We can’t just watch him forever either,” Baekhyun says, sounding more tired than annoyed. 

“I also think we really pissed them off this time by taking him,” Sehun adds and Baekhyun nods along. 

“Yeah. It’s weird to think that they’re capable of affection, but their faces when they realized that we captured him… kind of heartbreaking.” 

“Hyung, you’re the one that just said we should kill him,” Jongin whines, tugging on the sleeve of Baekhyun’s jacket. 

“And I stand by that. Doesn’t mean it’s not fucking sad. Don’t look at me like that, Nini.” 

Baekhyun sighs and wraps a comforting arm around Jongin’s waist. Jongin snuggles closer, although he still looks upset. 

“We’ll find a solution, don’t worry, guys,” Jongdae says and simply sits down on the floor. “I’ll take the first watch. You guys need a shower. Now hurry because I want to take a nice bathe. I deserve that!”

Junmyeon smiles and gratefully ruffles Jongdae’s hair. He glances at the chained clone one last time before turning around and leaving the basement with the rest of his team. 

Somehow the clone had looked lonely and vulnerable and broken. It’s one of those triumphant moments in which Junmyeon should be proud of himself and his team, but he isn’t. It simply doesn’t feel right at all. 

.

When Junmyeon steps out of the shower he feels a lot better. He is finally clean and a little less tired. He looks at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth. After every battle he needs to calm down and reassure himself that he and his clone are not the same. His clone has wild, red hair and murky, red eyes and that godawful grin. Junmyeon looks a lot softer and his hair is brown. He throws on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt and shuffles into the kitchen where he finds Sehun rummaging through the fridge. 

“Baekhyun is on watch,” their youngest says without looking up. 

“I’m scared we’re letting our guard down too easily,” Junmyeon sighs, flopping down on the kitchen table. 

Sehun puts a bottle of water in front of him and sits across from him. 

“They’ll come for him,” Junmyeon says, “I know it. They genuinely care for him.” 

“I think,” Sehun begins, “the Red Force wouldn’t let them attack us, not right now. They’re working for them, not themselves. Like puppets. Stop worrying, our headquarters are safe.”

Sehun is right, Junmyeon is concerned nonetheless. He wonders how they must feel; stuck wherever the Red Force keeps them, unable to get their teammate back. If Jongin ever got captured Junmyeon would move heaven and hell to get to him, they’re family. 

Junmyeon groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. Shit, he had to stop comparing them. Jongin isn’t like that thing in their basement. ‘We’re not them, we’re not them,’ a voice in his head whispers. He shouldn’t think like that. It’s not like X-EXO would ever take prisoners anyway.

“Relax,” Sehun says gently and places his hand on Junmyeon’s arm. 

.

Kāi is uncomfortable when he wakes up. He’s used to feeling uncomfortable, so he doesn’t exactly mind. Something metallic is keeping his wrists together behind his back. His cheek and hip bone feel sore from the rough ground he’s lying on. He clenches his jaw and forces himself to sit up. He would have lost balance if it wasn’t for the stone wall behind him. He leans against it with a hiss. He needs more space to teleport, his hands need to be free and he’s way too exhausted anyway. He hates feeling so restricted. Sometimes they would take him away from his teammates as punishment, when he wasn’t being good enough. They’d put him in an extra room, magnetic fields stopping him from escaping. It feels exactly like that now. He especially misses his Chanyeøl and Chën. Kāi squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to not burst into tears. 

“Hey. Hey!” 

Kāi wants to cover his ears but can’t, so he just stubbornly shakes his head. 

“For fuck’s sake,” the person mutters. 

He doesn’t sound angry. Kāi is too upset to notice that though. The person keeps their distance, apparently unsure of what to do. 

“Um… I’m Sehun. You probably know that.”

It’s then that Kāi gets angry. They took him away from his only source of warmth. According to his masters EXO are the inferior, washed out version of them and are standing in their masters’ way. That’s why they have to be eliminated. Kāi jerks his head up to stare at Sehun now, teeth bared in a snarl. Sehun’s breath catches in his throat and Kāi laughs hysterically. Who does this little breeze think he is? 

Sehun swallows and takes a step back. The next thing Sehun knows is Kāi plunging forward with a terrifying shriek. Sehun is already sprinting out of the room and slams the thick door shut. Kāi would have gotten him if it wasn’t for his restrained arms. Kāi keeps making noise, throwing his whole body against the door with as much force as he can muster. He barely feels the pain.

.

“Hyyyyuuuung, what the fuck!!” 

Junmyeon can hear their youngest stomping through the corridors before he even sees him. 

Sehun doesn’t exactly look scared, but he does seem a little shaken when he walks into the living room. Junmyeon and Baekhyun who had been sitting on the sofa are on their feet immediately. 

“What happened?” 

“It’s that thing, it tried to attack me! I think he needs stronger security or something.” 

“No one’s watching him right now?” Baekhyun asks in disbelieve, eyes wide. 

“I almost died just now, just so you know.” 

Junmyeon puts a hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “Let me handle it, okay? And please talk to Jongdae about installing surveillance cameras down there. I should have thought of that sooner, I’m sorry.” 

Sehun gives him a small smile. “You’re doing your best. Be careful down there, he’s evil. Also, he’s trying to break out.” 

“We should come with you,” Baekhyun says.

Sehun doesn’t want to, but he agrees with him. Junmyeon shakes his head and tells them not to worry. He can handle him, he’s worn out and tied up after all. 

When Junmyeon unlocks the heavy door Jongin’s clone is curled up in the middle of the room, panting and chest heaving. There is blood on him. Concerned Junmyeon shuts the door and comes closer. The clone just hisses and tries to roll away from him. 

“Please, let me look at that, okay? What did you do?” 

He stops trying to get away and just lies there, glaring at Junmyeon. His cheek and the left side of his forehead are scraped up. He seems to have exhausted himself. 

“Did you smash your head?” 

Junmyeon doesn’t expect a reply, so he’s a little surprised when he receives the smallest “yes” he’s ever heard. Fuck, he looks so sad and drained. 

“Listen, I’ll uncuff to take off your jacket and look at your injuries. If you try anything funny we’ll electrocute you again. You don’t want that, do you?” 

He doesn’t say anything so Junmyeon cautiously steps around him and kneels down, undoing the handcuffs. The clone stays put. At least until Junmyeon touches his arm. He jumps and crawls into one of the corners, pushing himself against the wall there.

“Don’t be scared. As long you behave, so will I.”

“I’ll do it myself.” He unbuckles something at his back and the cropped leather jacket falls open. He shrugs it off keeping his eyes on Junmyeon. 

Junmyeon swallows. The clone is a little too thin for his height, his ribs and hipbones are prominently sticking out and his skin has this grey tinge to it. His bony legs are drawn up to his chest. There is nothing of that liveliness that Jongin has. 

Junmyeon comes closer again, but he stays on his knees to remain on eye-level with him. He doesn’t want him to run again. There are wounds on his body that he knows are too old to be from today.

“I don’t want to keep calling you you . Do you have a name?”

“Of course I have a name. It’s Kāi.” 

“Do all of you have your own names?” 

“No. Some of us have the same as you.”

“I see. Kāi, I have to touch you. If you play along I’ll get you some food and water.” 

Kāi freezes up, chewing on his bottom lip. Junmyeon can’t tell if it’s because he’s bracing himself, or because he wants to eat. Junmyeon would have made sure he’s fed either way, but Kāi doesn’t need to know that. 

Junmyeon gently reaches out and tenderly holds Kāi’s face in his hands, tilting his head to the side to inspect the blood trickling down the left side of his skull. The skin has ripped and is already bruising around it. Junmyeon makes a mental note to get something to clean him up with when he brings him food later. His temple is discolored too. Junmyeon’s gaze wanders from Kāi’s face lower to his tarnished shoulder. Junmyeon lets go of his face and runs his fingertips down Kāi’s side to detect where exactly he is hurt. Kāi jerks forward when he touches his hip, gasping in pain. Junmyeon thinks he’s going to push him away when the clone suddenly grabs him by the arm, but he’s just steadying himself. Junmyeon looks up to find Kāi’s face in a grimace, his nails digging into Junmyeon’s biceps. 

“I’m sorry,” Junmyeon whispers. 

Kāi’s grip only tightens. 

“I’ll get you an ice pack and ointment. Don’t move.” 

Junmyeon tries to get up, but Kāi won’t let him, his eyes wet and alarmed. 

“I’ll be right back.” 

Kāi starts crying and Junmyeon feels so helpless. What should he do? He needs to take care of these wounds. He feels so guilty for keeping Kāi here, but what other option does he have? At the end of the day he’s his enemy. Why should he be nice? Junmyeon pries Kāi’s hands off of him and stands, hurrying out of the room as quickly as he can, ignoring the sobs behind him. 

Maybe all this is a big mistake. Shit. What have they done? 

This time when Junmyeon is back in the basement he hesitates in front of the door. He feels guilty and also silly. Jongdae is with him, ready with his cameras and prepared to knock Kāi out. Just in case. They had also brought chains that Jongdae and Chanyeol had designed. With a remote control they can send electric shocks to whoever is wearing them. Jongdae can’t be there every time they get a little scared of Kāi, so this is the solution they’ve come up with. Junmyeon knows it’s not truly a solution. For fuck’s sake, keeping Kāi in this room is not solution. 

“Don’t get too close to him unless I tell you to.” 

Jongdae nods. “Yeah, dude is unpredictable. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried ripping your throat out yet.” 

“I’m glad he hasn’t done that,” Junmyeon snorts. “I think he was too tired.” 

“Sehun says he’s been body slamming the door, so technically it’s his fault.” 

“We beat him in a fight and unlike us he didn’t get anything to drink or eat since then.” 

“Or a shower.” Jongdae scrunches up his nose. “We need to find a way to get him upstairs without him lashing out.” 

“We’ll find a way. I don’t think he’s evil, just confused.” 

“Right. Well until then this will have to do.” He points at the water bucket in Junmyeon’s hands with his chin.

Junmyeon takes a deep breath and unlocks the door. Kāi is still sitting in the same corner and his jacket is also still off. Now his arms are wrapped around his legs and his face hidden in his knees. 

“Damn, why did you upset him so much?” Jongdae asks as if Junmyeon isn’t stressed out enough already.

“I didn’t mean to upset him!” He walks into the room and with a much softer tone he addresses Kāi. “Hi. I brought you some things.” 

He places the bucket of warm, foamy water next to him, a shower cloth draped over its edge. He also brought a battle of water, a plate with two sandwiches, disinfectant, ointment and one of Minseok’s cooling patches. Jongdae starts putting up the small cameras around the room while Junmyeon gets to work. He wipes down Kāi’s torso, cleans and disinfects the wounds, applies ointment to any swellings he can see and sticks the cooling patches on them. Jongdae hands him bandages for the fresher wounds. Junmyeon’s hands are steady as he skillfully wraps them around the injured areas. It is awfully quiet the whole time, with Jongdae just staring and Kāi avoiding all eye contact, just letting Junmyeon do his thing. Even though he doesn’t say anything, Junmyeon thinks that Kāi seems a lot more relaxed now, probably relieved to finally get rid of all the sweat and dirt on him. 

“Hey,” Junmyeon says softly once he’s done. 

He wants to reach out and put his hand on the clone’s shoulder or leg out of instinct. It’s how he usually treats Jongin. Junmyeon refrains and instead just smiles at Kāi and holds out the water bottle. Kāi eyes the drink with suspicion. “Don’t you think that if I wanted to harm you, I would have done so already?”

Kāi seems to contemplate that and eventually snatches the water bottle, unscrewing the cap and downing all of it within seconds. He inelegantly wipes his mouth with his arm and looks at the sandwiches, biting his lips. Junmyeon can’t help the little smile forming on his face. “Go on,” he encourages him and Kāi immediately begins to scarf down the food. 

He chokes a little and coughs but doesn’t stop until every last crump of food is gone, even licking his fingers. He points at the empty plate, almost outraged. 

“You want more?” Junmyeon asks, amused. “I’ll get you some when we’re done here. Jongdae here has some extra water bottles, we’ll leave them here.” 

Kāi takes the plate into one of his hands so tenderly, it surprises Junmyeon. As if the plate is something precious. He simply had not expected Kāi to be capable of such softness. 

Junmyeon gives Kāi a questioning look and Jongdae too raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Delicious,” Kāi says sheepishly. 

“Really?” Jongdae asks, voice a little high. “It was just ham and some lettuce, but thank you for acknowledging my dope kitchen skills.” 

Junmyeon snorts because Jongdae barely has any kitchen skills. Neither does he, but that is beside the point. 

“Delicious,” Kāi insists, eyes wide and more alive than Junmyeon had ever seen them. 

“I liked the white stuff. Around the meat.”

‘The-the bread?” 

“Yeah, I’ve never had it before.” 

“You’ve never had a sandwich?” 

Kāi shakes his head. 

“Oh,” Junmyeon says dumbly. “Do you have a favorite food? We could try to get it for you.”

Kāi shakes his head again. “I don’t have.”

“Well, okay. Anything specific you’d like to eat?” 

“Anything! Or more… sandwich.” 

Junmyeon and Jongdae exchange looks that border on worry. They wonder what Kāi has been fed all those years. “Okay” Junmyeon smiles. “We’ll get you more sandwiches tomorrow.”

Junmyeon stands up and takes a step back and gestures for Jongdae to take over.

“Right,” Jongdae says. “So I got you a sweater so you don’t get too cold.” 

Jongdae holds it out for Kāi, who looks at Junmyeon as if to ask for permission. Something about that makes Junmyeon’s chest ache. “It’s okay,” Junmyeon says, hoping that this is what Kāi wants to hear in order to proceed. 

Kāi slowly stands up and Jongdae literally has to force himself to not back off. Kāi is still dangerous. Even with his bad, haunched over posture he’s taller than Jongdae. He slips the black sweater on and with the tiniest quirk of the corner of his mouth he runs his hands over his arms and stomach. He seems to like the sweater. “It’s warm,” Kāi says, nodding to himself. 

Junmyeon doesn’t want to do this, but he knows he has too. He cannot trust Kāi, not after everything he has done. “I’m glad you like the sweater,” he says. “Can you do me a favour and sit back down. It’ll be more comfortable for you. Please don’t make this hard for me. I’ll bring you sandwiches tomorrow.”

Kāi doesn’t like the tone in Junmyeon’s voice. He obeys nonetheless. At this point he has really tired himself out. He plops back down on the stone floor and Jongdae goes to fasten the chains on the wall behind Kāi. Jongdae’s fingers are crackling with electricity, just a little warning. 

Junmyeon feels awful. Kāi looks miserable suddenly, hugging himself tightly, throwing panicked and betrayed looks at Junmyeon. 

“Alright, give me your hand,” Jongdae says. 

Kāi doesn’t move. 

“Kāi,” Junmyeon tries, sighing. 

“Don’t. Don’t do this,” Kāi pleads. 

Jongdae waits for Junmyeon’s order. 

“Wait for me outside. It’s fine, don’t worry,” Junmyeon says. 

Jongdae is concerned. He only leaves the room because he’s still close enough, in case Junmyeon needs help after all. 

Tears are swimming in Kāi’s eyes and Junmyeon does his best to ignore them. “Give me your hands,” Junmyeon demands. 

Kāi isn’t listening this time though. When Junmyeon tries to grab his wrist Kāi kicks out. Junmyeon has taken a lot worse. He grinds his teeth at the pain in his stomach. 

“Fuck you,” Kāi snarls. 

There is a flicker in Kāi’s eyes, something unsteady about his whole body, like he is about to teleport away any second. Except he doesn’t, because he can’t. He isn’t even attempting it. It’s a little tick Jongin also has and somehow it makes Junmyeon feel even worse. When Jongin gets nervous he sort of flickers like he’s there but not really. Usually one of their teammates would just hold Jongin until he’s steady again. Of course, that isn’t an option in Kāi’s case. Junmyeon also doubts that Kāi would even want to be hugged. 

Junmyeon swings his arm away from him and a good amount of water comes crashing onto Kāi like a whip. It throws the clone off long enough for Junmyeon to seize his wrist and fasten the cuff around it. Kāi snaps his jaw at Junmyeon, who ducks it expertly. 

“I’ll fucking water board you,” Junmyeon threatens. He would never. 

Kāi gives an awful, dry laugh that is almost hysterical. “You can try, maybe I’m into it.” 

Junmyeon grabs his other wrist and wrestles it into the second cuff before he brings a good distance between them. Kāi’s eyes are flickering again and it’s honestly unsettling. Junmyeon had wanted to give him more to drink but now he doesn’t feel like approaching him anymore. Kāi’s arms are elevated, but he has enough leeway to bent them. He is on his knees and tries to get away from the wall, rattling and pulling on the chains, scratching up the skin under the cuffs. Kāi suddenly lets out a scream of pain. Startled Junmyeon snaps his head around to Jongdae, who has the remote control in his hand. 

“Dae, stop it!” 

Jongdae lets up. Kāi sags in his restraints and starts laughing again. The laughter quickly turns into wailing and Junmyeon hurries to get out of the room. He can’t listen to this or he’ll just let Kāi go.

.

Chanyeol is a lot softer and benevolent than one might expect. He simply doesn’t show his heart as openly as Junmyeon. He would kill Kāi, no questions asked, if that’s what Junmyeon wanted. He wouldn’t like doing it, but he would do it. 

Kāi looks so lonely and almost pathetic, Chanyeol wants to help him. Make him feel better. The clone is leaning against the stone wall, his one cheek resting on his bicep. His eyes are squeezed shut and he’s whimpering, one of his long legs twitching. When Chanyeol had come down to take over from Baekhyun Kāi had been asleep. Chanyeol sits on the floor with his phone and earbuds, a safe distance between him and Kāi.

Kāi wakes up a few minutes later, screaming. He wants to get up, apparently having forgotten about the chains. With a frustrated noise he settles again, his whole body shaking. 

“Did you have a nightmare?” Chanyeol asks carefully. 

“My arms hurt,” he whimpers. 

Chanyeol swallows. This isn’t like the Kāi he knows from the battlefield at all. Chanyeol quickly goes to the corner of the room to grab a thick blanket and the water bottle. Kāi’s pale eyes follow everything Chanyeol does, but he himself doesn’t move an inch. Chanyeol drapes the blanket over Kāi, making sure his torso and arms are nice and warm. He uncaps the bottle and holds it up to Kāi’s lips. He opens his mouth slowly but drinks the whole bottle. 

“Junmyeon hyung says that he’ll make you some sandwiches once he wakes up. It’s still early, you know. Do you want to talk about your nightmare?”

Kāi mumbles something that Chanyeol can’t quite hear. Kāi is chewing on his lips and a tear rolls down his gaunt cheek. 

“What is it?” Chanyeol asks, slightly panicked. 

He has no idea what to do. He can fight Kāi but he sure as hell doesn’t know how to comfort him. He is mumbling again, this time though Chanyeol catches a few words: “He left me.” 

“Who?” 

“Your Junmyeon. And Suhø too. I miss my Suhø. Everyone.” 

“I’m…” Chanyeol swallows. “I’m so sorry.” 

“You’re not. If you felt bad you’d let me go. Please, please let me go.” More tears are gathering in Kāi’s eyes. “My wrists hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol repeats, not knowing what else to say. He truly feels sorry for him, but there is nothing he can do. 

“Unchain me, it hurts. Chanyeol.” 

Kāi turns his face away, burying it in his arms. 

Chanyeol’s heart sinks. He can’t help it, he gently puts his hands on Kāi’s shoulders and strokes them in an attempt of showing affection. “Hey,” he mutters, thumb soothingly rubbing over Kāi’s skin. He moves his hand into Kāi’s hair, scratching his scalp gently. Eventually Kāi lifts his head again and Chanyeol realizes that he had been biting himself. The wool of the sweater is ripped at the arm and there are bite marks in the now exposed skin. 

“Oh, Kāi…” Chanyeol says. 

“I miss my Chanyeøl.” 

“I know, I know.” 

Kāi suddenly leans into Chanyeol’s touches, like a cat asking for more petting. Chanyeol smiles a little, letting the clone sink against him and relax. His breathing evens out and he stops crying as Chanyeol scratches him behind his ear. 

.

It’s Junmyeon’s turn to watch Kāi. He goes to make himself and Kāi breakfast. He drops a text to Chanyeol on his way downstairs. Chanyeol is already waiting for him in the open door, arms crossed. 

“I need to talk to you,” he says, glancing over his shoulder at Kāi. 

Junmyeon follows his gaze. Kāi looks tired, but by far not as upset as last night. He looks timid. 

“Okay.” 

“We need to unchain him. I don’t think it’s doing anything good. He can’t escape this basement anyway.”

“It’s for extra control. We know through Jongin that electricity is the thing that works on him the best.” 

“Yeah, but he can’t teleport out of the basement. Jongdae has secured that too, didn’t he? With the magnetic fields and shit.” 

It is a little bit more complicated than that but Junmyeon is not in the mood to lecture Chanyeol on technicalities. 

“Double security, it’s safer.”

“Hyung.” Chanyeol inhales and lowers his voice. “He is in pain. Both mentally and physically. He missed his teammates so much I fucking hugged him because I felt so bad. Also imagine sleeping in that position. That’s messed up, dude. We can’t go around pretending we’re better than them because we don’t kill, but then act like this. I honestly think Kāi would rather we kill him than chain him up in there.” 

Junmyeon feels anxious and useless. Chanyeol is right and Junmyeon is uncertain. He is in charge of everything, everyone is always relying on him to make the correct decision. The responsibility is starting to crush him. Junmyeon squeezes Chanyeol’s arm as he walks past him into the basement and straight to Kāi.

Junmyeon’s chest tightens uncomfortably when Kāi flinches away from him, his bottom lip trembling. He had managed to build some sort of trust between the two only to ruin it. Junmyeon could really slap himself. He puts the basket he had brought with him down and kneels in front of Kāi. He reaches up and unchains him. He feels a pang of guilt as he sees the red, chafed wrists. He holds Kāi’s hands in his own and lets cooling water spread around the reddened areas. Please forgive me, Junmyeon thinks. 

After a while Kāi withdraws his hands, fixes the blanket Chanyeol had given him to engulf him like a coat and then puts his hands into his lap. Even though he is taller than Junmyeon, he seems so small. Cute even. Junmyeon blinks at the clone, a little taken a back. 

“Better?” he asks and Kāi nods. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t go,” is all Kāi says, his hands clenching to fists, knuckles going white. 

Junmyeon touches them. “Don’t do that. Here.”

Junmyeon laces their fingers together. While Kāi is distracted by their hands Junmyeon pulls the basket closer and takes out the large plate with the sandwiches on. He looks around and sees that Chanyeol had left at some point, probably satisfied with Junmyeon doing the right thing. He also takes out a peach, a few protein bars and a thermos with fennel tea. 

Kāi grabs Junmyeon’s hand a little tighter, excited about seeing the sandwiches. He points at them with his free hand. 

“Please, eat. It’s fine, take as many as you want.” 

Kāi’s face visibly lights up and he pulls the plate closer. He manages to stuff an entire sandwich into his mouth. His cheeks puff up as he chews, already grabbing the next sandwich. “Hmmmm,” Kāi moans, licking his fingers. “Delicious!”

“I’m glad,” Junmyeon says, watching him fondly. He looks so much like Jongin right now. “Last time Jongdae made them but this morning I thought I’d do something fancy and make egg and bacon sandwiches. Breakfast and all that.” 

“Never had that until today. I love it!”

“Breakfast?!”

“Nooo.” Kāi genuinely looks amused, although he doesn’t pause devouring his fifth sandwich. “I never had egg sandwiches with. That.”

“You mean bacon?”

“Yeah.”

“What breakfast do you usually like?”

“We just eat the same things.” 

“For every meal?”

“Well kind of.” 

Kāi lifts his finger to signal that he wants to finish eating before talking. He shoves the last sandwich into his mouth and Junmyeon pours some of the tea into a mug, holding it out for him. 

“It’s still hot.”

Kāi curiously takes the mug from him and gently blows at it. “Smells nice.”

“Doesn’t it? I put some lemon juice in it too.” 

Kāi takes a careful sip, burns his tongue, but goes for it a second time, burning his tongue again. Junmyeon isn’t too worried, Kāi doesn’t seem to mind. As long as he likes it, it’s all good. 

“I usually get rice and meat.”

“Oh? What meat?”

“Don’t know.” Kāi shrugs. “I think whatever meat they have left over or can find. They don’t prepare the food like you do though.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, they don’t make it nice and yummy. It’s not warm like the eggs.” 

Junymeon has the dark premonition that X-EXO is being fed raw meat, or maybe boiled at best. It makes him question how evil they actually are. With every passing day they appear more as weapons of the Red Force than anything else. He has had these thoughts long before capturing Kāi but having the clone here with him only reinforces his speculations. 

“Also these.” Kāi picks up two of the protein bars. One of them is chocolate flavoured, the other one strawberry. 

He takes off the rapper and shoves them both into his mouth at the same time. Table manners really don’t seem to be a thing in their world, Junmyeon thinks. 

“Ours don’t taste like anything but they look a little bit like this. We eat them when we don’t deserved the rice.” 

Junmyeon feels sick. This is straight up abuse. Now he feels even worse about locking Kāi up like this. What if he’s treating Kāi exactly like the Red Force, a dangerous weapon only made for battle? Nothing about this feels right. 

“There is a lot of food I want you to try, there is so much.” 

Kāi smiles so wide, Junmyeon’s heart aches. He reaches out to touch Kāi’s face, cupping his cheeks. He wonders if Kāi is being nice because he knows how kind Junmyeon is, or if he does like Junmyeon a little bit. Junmyeon hopes for the latter. 

“Don’t try to hurt us anymore, okay?”

“Will you promise to not hurt us anymore either?”

“I can’t promise that. He- my clone-“

“Suhø.”

“Yeah. Him. He isn’t a person I can discuss a truce with. The Red Force are the responsible ones.” 

And even if the Red Force wasn’t the one sending X-EXO out to fight EXO, at the end of the day they are all killers, which is unreversible. Junmyeon doesn’t even want to know their body count.

Kāi puts the mug down and covers Junmyeon’s hands with his. He presses closer to the leader, making his breath hitch. Junmyeon can’t help but wonder how many lives these very hands have ended. 

“K-kāi… what are you doing?”

Now Kāi is closer than he has ever been, all up in Junmyeon’s space. “You like me, right? You seem like you do.” 

His hands leave Junmyeon’s, instead they wander over Junmyeon’s chest and lower, eventually landing on his waist. Their thighs are touching, too. 

“I’m not stupid, you know.” 

“I didn’t think you were,” Junmyeon replies.

“I’ve been told I’m pretty.” 

“You are.” 

“Then don’t pull that face. I know what I’m doing, I’ve done this before.” 

Junmyeon frowns. “Done what?”

“Sex. It pleases people, right? If I do what you want, you let me go and won’t chain me anymore. Right?”

Junmyeon shuffles back, putting a little distance between Kāi’s crotch and his lap. He doesn’t push him away though, letting Kāi’s hands rest on his waist. 

“Kāi…” Junmyeon refrains from calling him some sort of endearment, because Kāi’s eyes are wide and he’s pouting and being overall adorable. “That’s not what I want.”

“You don’t want to fuck me?”

I would under other circumstances, Junmyeon keeps that to himself though. 

“Not now, no. You don’t have to offer yourself like that in order for me to be nice to you. I promise, as long you don’t attack anyone, I won’t tie you up again.”

“Unless I want you to,” Kāi smirks, baring his teeth

“Don’t,” Junymeon whines but doesn’t protest when Kāi circles his arms around Junmyeon and rests his head on his shoulder. 

Junmyeon is prepared for many things. Both Kāi blatantly flirting with him or cuddling with a killer clone are things he is in fact very much not prepared for. “Is that usually how you get what you want? You just… have sex?”

Kāi curls up into himself, a lot less relaxed suddenly, the spurt of flirty confidence apparently gone. “If I’m good and please them they won’t punish me.”

“What do they punish you for?”

“Failed missions, stuff like that. Sometimes though…they just hurt me for the sake of it I guess.”

“You don’t like the sex?”

Kāi seems to be terrified to answer. 

“You don’t have to tell me,” Junmyeon reassures him. “But you can if you want to.”

“I don’t like it…” Kāi’s voice is barely above a whisper. 

He takes a shattering breath, hugging Junmyeon so tightly it’s a little bit painful. Junmyeon just holds him, firm arms around the much slimmer man.

“I’ll see what I can do about your teammates. You’re not going back there.”

Junmyeon doesn’t believe that they can make good people out of X-EXO, only they could save themself. What he can do however, is separate them from the Red Force. Junmyeon is determined. 

“I want to go back.”

“If your teammates left, would you still want to go back?”

“They can’t leave. It’s impossible. But whether I’m here or with my Masters, it doesn’t matter. I’m locked up either way.”

.

“I mean…” Jongin says, frowning. “He’s not wrong.” 

He and Sehun are sitting on the couch with mugs of tea in their hands. Junmyeon had switched from tea to wine. 

“We could let him out and he can live up here with us,” Jongin suggests shyly. 

“Are you crazy?” Sehun hisses. “He’ll kill us in our sleep.” 

“We lock the doors, duh,” Chanyeol says, who is pacing up and down the living room.

Jongin pushes his bottom lip out. “Hyung,” he says, “you do know he can teleport outside the basement.” 

“Can’t Jongdae secure everything up here too?”

“That’d restrict my powers too!”

“When do you even use your powers?”

Jongin just pouts extra hard and looks at Junmyeon. 

“We definitely can’t let him rot down there,” Junmyeon mumbles. 

“Okay but why not?” Sehun throws in. “Like I get that we all feel bad for him right now, but I think you’re forgetting what he is. A genetically mutated version of Nini who is literally trained to be a killing machine.” 

“There it is,” Junmyeon says and downs the rest of his wine before placing the glass on the table rather forcefully. “He’s been trained. I really don’t think he’s like this.” 

“Or he’s faking it,” Sehun says. “Maybe he isn’t cute at all and only wants us to let our guard down.” 

Junmyeon shakes his head. “I really don’t think so.”

“Fine, but we can’t babysit him the whole time,” Chanyeol adds. “Even if he is just a weapon, he’s still dangerous and not trustworthy.”

“He’ll be my responsibility. If he fucks up, it’ll be on me.”

“We still haven’t solved the teleportation thing,” Jongin reminds them.

“Are you okay without your powers around the dorms?” 

Jongin sighs. He doesn’t like this at all, but it’s also not really a problem. “Fine, but I need the training rooms.” 

“I promise,” Junmyeon says, “we’ll just secure the dorms. Next time we run into X-EXO I’ll try to talk to them.”

Sehun chokes and spits out his tea. “WHAT?!”

“They’re all about murder, not about talking,” Chanyeol says, a little amused and Jongin nods along, gently slapping Sehun’s back.

Junmyeon is usually not that naïve. 

“Why are you all looking at me like that?” Junmyeon asks, a little offended. “We have Kāi, don’t we? Let’s make use of him. If they care about him, they’ll listen.” 

.

Sehun’s arms are crossed over his chest as he looks at Kāi. Like so often he’s just cowering on the floor. They’re roughly the same height but to Sehun Kāi seems a lot smaller because he never seems to stand straight. Whenever someone moves too fast, Kāi would flinch. Maybe Junmyeon is right and Kāi isn’t the evil they assumed he is. Sehun also thinks that he is super cute when he eats. His eyes light up with joy no matter what they bring him. Kāi’s eyes are pale and bloodshot, they look pretty dead to Sehun. Unless he’s eating. Or if he sees Junmyeon. Kāi seems to have taken a liking to their leader. 

Jongdae spent the whole day securing their dorms and now it is time to let Kāi go up. Sehun still thinks it’s too big of a risk and although he doesn’t trust Kāi, he does trust Junmyeon with everything he has.  
He watches Kāi finish the last of his tomato pasta. He even holds his fork cutely, Sehun almost forgets that these are the same hands that have ripped through bodies on the battlefield. 

“We have a little surprise for you,” Sehun says when Kāi is finished and wipes his mouth with a napkin.  
He is awkward doing it, like he’s just mimicking what Junmyeon has told him to do. It is kind of endearing. 

“A nice one?” Kāi asks, sounding anxious. 

“Yes, yes! Don’t worry. You’re lucky Junmyeon likes you, he wants to treat you right.”

“Y-You’re letting me go?” 

“Not exactly, but we’re letting you out of the basement.”

Kāi grins. “That seems like a stupid idea.” 

Sehun raises an eyebrow at him. Is Kāi… comfortably joking around? That is actually kinda nice. 

“I think it’s stupid too but you need a shower,” Sehun sighs. 

“I’ll be good,” Kāi promises. 

Sehun genuinely can’t tell if he’s being sincere or not. “Come on.” 

Kāi gets up and he still seems to small, with his head lowered and raised shoulders. Sehun doesn’t offer but Kāi still links their arms, like Sehun is going to run off and leave Kāi behind. 

Sehun gives him a mild smile and covers Kāi’s hand with his own. Jongin is clingy too, it’s sweet to notice these similarities. 

“Don’t try to escape or-“

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get electrocuted, I know.” 

Sehun just huffs and they make their way upstairs. There is a mirror in the elevator which Kāi seems to be very fascinated by. Maybe it’s just because he hasn’t seen himself in a couple of days. 

.

The dorms are spacious and warm and pretty. They’re filled with personal belongings and it’s a little messy. Kāi likes it a lot. They all have their own bedrooms and attached bathrooms. 

Junmyeon is somewhere behind the closed (not locked) bathroom door. Kāi had thrown his dirty clothes on a pile on the floor. He’s supposed to take a shower but he’s too intrigued by everything else in the room. There is a pink matt in front of the shower that’s very fluffy and soft under his bare feet. The mirror is very clean but overall everything else is a little bit of a mess. There are two tubes of toothpaste - both open – one in the cupboard above the sink and the other on the side of the sink, two toothbrushes (one of them closed and according to Junmyeon for Kāi to use), several creams and mists that Kāi doesn’t know and there are some towels and clothes, too. Junmyeon had given him some clothes from Jongin, just a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt, socks, boxers. 

Kāi checks his naked reflection and is happy that his bruises really aren’t that bad anymore. Eventually he does get into the shower and stays there for way too long. He loves the hot water raining down on him, it feels like a hug and he finally feels clean and refreshed. He uses Junmyeon’s shampoo and the body wash smells like strawberries and makes little bubbles. He only leaves the shower when Junmyeon starts knocking on the door to ask if he’s okay. It itches Kāi to teleport right next to Junmyeon and give him a little startle, just for fun. Of course he doesn’t. He uses the fresh toothbrush and gets dressed. Jongin’s clothes are comfy but he feels foreign in them. Like they are not right on him. 

“Are you ok?” Junmyeon asks the second Kāi steps out of the bathroom. 

Kāi nods and pulls a little on his shirt, he’s nervous. He notices Junmyeon staring so he stands still, cocking his head to the side. “What?”

“Uh, nothing. Sorry, you just look very different like this. You look cute.” 

“Cute?” 

“Yeah.” 

Kāi grins and to other people he might look a little bit insane but at this point Junmyeon finds his crooked facial expressions endearing. 

“Come on, sit down. Your hair is all wet. We don’t want you catching a cold.”

“My immune system is thrice as good as yours, you know,” Kāi says but obeys and sits down on the edge of the bed, hands in his lap. 

“Still,” Junmyeon insists as he plugs in the hairdryer. 

He climbs on the bed behind Kāi. “Is this okay?”

“Hm.” 

Junmyeon starts blow drying Kāi’s dark hair, one hand combing through the messy strands. 

“H- Junmyeon…”

“Hyung is fine.” 

“Junmyeon hyung. This feels nice.”

“You like when people touch your hair?” 

Kāi turns his head to look at the older man, who looks at him with this kind smile Kāi’s heart does a little thing. “I think so,” Kāi admits, a little pink creeping into his sunken cheeks. 

Junmyeon’s smile just widens as he continues his task. When Kāi’s hair is pretty much dry and all fluffy Junmyeon keeps his hand there, gently pulling Kāi closer by the nape. Kāi doesn’t even hesitate to wrap his arms around Junmyeon and lean his head on his chest while Junmyeon scratches his scalp. Kāi doesn’t even realise how tightly he’s holding onto Junmyeon’s hoodie. All the pain and coldness from the previous days are suddenly not important anymore, he feels warm and taken care of.

They remain like this for as long as Junmyeon is comfortable in this position. They don’t speak. There is stuff Junmyeon would like to talk about, would like to ask but Kāi looks so at peace, he doesn’t dare to.  
He must have been horribly touch-starved and Junmyeon just wishes he could have warmed him up like this much sooner. 

“My arm is numb,” Junmyeon whispers after a while.

Kāi quickly straightens up and puts a little distance between them. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” he mumbles and ducks his head a little. He seems rigid suddenly. 

“Ah it’s okay. Don’t worry.” Junmyeon reaches out and takes Kāi’s hand. “Don’t be scared of me anymore.”

“I’m not scared,” Kāi says. 

Kāi sounds sincere and Junmyeon assumes that Kāi doesn’t want to get “punished”, but also has such a high pain tolerance, Junmyeon couldn’t truly harm him. 

"Are you hungry?" Junmyeon aks. 

A kind of stupid question. Kāi is actually pretty predictable at times. For example, he's always hungry. So Junmyeon really isn't surprised when Jongin nods with the tiniest of smiles. 

"Come on." 

He pulls Kāi with him and outside his room. “I'd give you your own room. Like that was my original plan but then we thought someone should watch you. I'm sorry." Junmyeon's voice got more quiet towards the end and for some reason Kāi finds that amusing. Endearing almost. 

"It's fine," he says, looking at Junymeon's hand in his. "I get it. I'd want to keep an eye on me too." 

Junmyeon tries not to blush. Going by Kāi's smirk the clone is thoroughly entertained. He is getting more confident and Junmyeon cannot say he dislikes it. It suits him well. 

They reach the kitchen and Kāi stops smiling when he sees Jongin sitting there, munching on some cookies. Jongin’s eyes widen. 

"Hi," Junmyeon says to his teammate because ten seconds are a surprisingly long time for two people to just stare at each other without saying anything. 

Jongin is the only one who has not taken a watch while Kāi had been in the basement. The reason actually is not as deep as Junmyeon had originally presumed. Junmyeon doesn't exactly have a relationship with Suhø (that's how Kāi calls him), but he does have a lot of conflicting feelings about how different or how similar they are. He knows it's a little bit silly, after all he doesn't even know Suhø. The only clone he would say he knows is Kāi and even then... does he really know him? Probably not. So the idea of facing Suhø, truly looking at him and talking to him terrifies him immensely. Junmyeon had speculated that Jongin must feel the same. Junmyeon had snorted out a laugh when Jongin had confessed he was just shy and wanted to avoid an awkward situation.

Junmyeon had actually expected Jongin to hide out in his room until he's ready to meet Kāi. 

"Um," Jongin says and tries a smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Jongin." 

"Kāi." 

They stare at each other again and it takes a shit ton of will power for Junmyeon to not sigh loudly.

Kāi must be a weird sight to Jongin, the whole clone situation aside. After all they only knew Kāi as this crazy warrior covered in smudges of blood and dirt, a teeth baring, barking laugh, and wearing pretty much only leather. 

Now he's dressed in these ordinary clothes. Kāi does not appear timid but he is calm. Junmyeon squeezes his hand. 

"He looks a lot healthier doesn't he?" Junmyeon speaks up. 

"Oh yes, definitely," Jongin agrees. 

He gives Junmyeon a weird look that doesn't go unnoticed by the leader. He makes a mental note to ask Jongin about it later. It's one of his "I love you but you're stupid" kind of faces and it's rare that Jongin thinks Junmyeon is being stupid. Usually that face is reserved for Chanyeol or Sehun.

"Sit," Jongin suddenly says, his whole posture changing and his face becoming more open.  
Junmyeon frowns. 

What had Jongin noticed? 

Kāi sits. Damn, his posture is terrible. He is a little haunched over and he pulls his legs up. Junmyeon doubts he would have fit into that chair with his legs drawn up to his chest, but Kāi is very slim, a lot slimmer than Jongin actually. Kāi chews on his thumb as he stares at Jongin.

"You ever had a cookie?" Jongin asks. "Kyungsoo has a lot of recipes and I tried to make a batch. I left them in the oven a bit too long I think. When hyung makes them they're soft and gooey on the inside." 

Jongin may be shy but he’s also cocky, Junmyeon thinks and sits down next to Kāi, who doesn't take his eyes off of Jongin while reaching for a cookie and taking a small bite. He seems to like it because he suddenly looks at the cookie and then shoves the entire thing into his mouth and then reaches for two more cookies. Jongin laughs and pushes the plate closer to him. 

"I'm sorry I tried to kill you so many times," Kāi says, a few crumbs falling from his mouth. 

Maybe it's good Minseok and Kyungsoo aren't here right now, with how messily Kāi is eating. 

"If I knew it would only take cookies to make peace I would have brought Kyungsoo's cookies to a battle." 

Kāi seems hesitant for a second but then bursts out into a cackle. A probably very creepy cackle to most people but Junymeon knows this is simply his sincere laugh and if the leader is honest with himself he really likes that sound. Maybe because it's so rare to hear. 

"I wonder," Kāi says, "if my D.O. would be a good cook." 

"Do you have hobbies?" Junmyeon asks. 

"I like to read. When my masters send me out on missions I always take some books back with me. I read to our Sehůn sometimes, too. I'm very good at reading stuff aloud I think. Our Baëkhyun too, a very clear voice." 

"Your masters huh..." Junmyeon says. 

He can't help it and puts his hand on Kāi's shoulder. "They don't own you. You’re your own person."

Kāi shakes his head. "They created me though."

"I mean my parents made me, they still don't own me," Jongdae says, striding into the kitchen with a wide smile and giant shirt. 

"Looking good," he says to Kāi and takes a cookie too. "Damn, Nini, they're overbaked.

"Fuck you," Jongin says to him. "You don't have to eat them. I'll have you know Kāi loves them." 

Kāi nods happily, licking his fingers with delight. Junmyeon's breath hitches when Kāi shuffles his chair closer to him and leans in until his head can comfortably rest on Junmyeon's shoulder. He does that like it's the most natural thing ever. 

Jongin gives Junmyeon this look again. Jongdae coos at Kāi and it hits Junmyeon like a brick out of nowhere. Yes, Kāi is still a threat, he's dangerous, but he is also so fucking cute and sweet. The more Kāi opens up the warmer he gets. Junmyeon grins and gently puts an arm around him. Kāi melts into the touch and maybe all Kāi needs it warmth and a safe place. He wonders what it must be like to never feel safe or protected. What would Junmyeon be like if he had been raised as a weapon, and treated as one too?

"Anyway," Jongdae says, looking between Junmyeon and Kāi. "You don't want to go back to them, do you? Your- your masters I mean."

It feels like a test. If Kāi says he wants to go back he is a lot more dangerous than Jongdae would like him to be. Junmyeon already knows Kāi's answer. 

"The Red Force always says I'm only alive thanks to them. I don't know if I can run away. I miss my team. I miss them so much." 

"Oh," Jongdae says as if he had forgotten that X-EXO are a tight-knit unit as well, who have been raised alongside each other. 

A difference between EXO and X-EXO is that EXO have different birthdays, they’ve had pretty normal childhoods and had then gotten introduced to each other one by one throughout their lives. 

X-EXO is only half as old as them. They also aged unnaturally fast and then got stuck at the ideal physical age. The clones had all been born in the same year. Junmyeon wonders if they have the same life expectancy as humans.

“I’ve been thinking,” Junymeon says, clearing his throat, “If we freed all of X-EXO-“

“Are you insane?” Jongin asks and Jondae’s jaw drops too.

“We could defeat the Red Force if we were on the same side.”

“Suhø hates you guys,“ Kāi mumbles. “Even more now that you’ve kidnapped me.”

“That’s why we communicate,” Junmyeon insists. 

“Suhø isn’t a fan of peace negotiation.” 

“I figured. I’ll try anyway, for all of our sakes.” 

Kāi doesn’t say more regarding the topic, only snuggles closer to Junmyeon. 

.

Junmyeon wakes with the slight feeling of disorientation. He isn’t a light sleeper and thus not used to randomly waking up in the middle of night. The only times someone wakes him up is when X-EXO is causing problems but whenever that is the case, they’d shake him and there is an alarm. Now someone is tugging on his blanket and very gently poking his arm. Junmyeon blinks. It’s dark in his room and his eyesight is awful. He can distinguish a mob of green hair though. 

“Kāi? “ 

“Junmyeon. Hyung, I can’t sleep.” 

“Oh.” 

Junmyeon sits up and rubs his eyes. Kāi doesn’t seem too bothered by Junmyeon’s sleepy passiveness and manages to get under the thick blanket. 

“Why can’t you sleep?” Junmyeon asks. 

He lets Kāi curl up against his side. Kāi looks so… small, a little bit like a kitten. 

“It’s cold.” 

“What? It’s so warm. I can turn on the heater though.” 

“No, this is better. Come down here. You seem tired.” 

“I- okay,” he splutters as Kāi grabs his arm and starts pulling him down. 

Kāi makes sure that Junmyeon is also sufficiently covered with the blanket before wrapping his scrawny limbs around him. Kāi holds him very tightly but not to the point it’s uncomfortable or impossible for Junmyeon to move away. He doesn’t move away, just places his arms around the clone. He can feel Kāi’s breath against his chest and he’s awfully aware of Kāi’s crotch pressing up against his bare thigh. Junmyeon’s cheeks are getting warm and he swallows. 

“Um. Kāi?“

“Hm?“

Kāi sounds like he’s already half asleep. Junmyeon closes his eyes as well, actually enjoying the regular breathing and rise and fall of the other man’s chest against him. 

“Nothing. Go back to sleep.”

“Hm.”

It takes Junmyeon a while to fall back asleep. It’s not that he’s uncomfortable. What troubles him is that he might feel a little bit too comfortable. This is nice, it’s cozy. Experiencing Kāi being this calm and soft is something he doubts he will ever get tired of. He actually reaches out to his nightstand to grab his glasses to look at him, which he acknowledges is a little bit creepy (not creepy enough to not do it though). 

In his sleep Kāi’s grip has loosened and he has unconsciously moved away a few centimeters. Junmyeon studies his face. At this point Kāi and Jongin don’t look the same anymore at all, not to Junmyeon at least. Jongin always wears this tiny pout on his lips even when he sleeps. Kāi’s lips are parted and when he’s awake they’re pressed together often as if in deep thought or anger and he constantly has his fingers in his mouth. His brows are furrowed, and his eyes seem to move behind his lids. Junmyeon hopes he doesn’t have any bad dreams. 

He can’t help himself and combs his fingers through Kāi’s hair. He’s so pretty. 

. 

When Junmyeon wakes up in the morning it is because of Kāi again. 

“What are you doing?” Junmyeon mumbles, keeping his eyes closed. 

He can feel Kāi’s hands under his shirt. Also his nose nudging against his stomach. 

“It’s cold!” Kāi echoes his words from last night.

“Is that why you’re trying to crawl into my shirt?”

“Yes.”

Junmyeon laughs and says “I don’t believe you.” He opens his eyes and looks down to see Kāi feeling up his torso. 

“Well that’s rude of you to say.” 

“I think you just want to cuddle me.” 

Kāi huffs and resurfaces. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine. Hold me then.” 

Junmyeon snorts and rolls them around, trapping Kāi underneath him, strong arms holding him close. Kāi kicks out with his long legs as he’s being squished into the mattress but he’s giggling. He eventually stops moving around and his hands settle on Junmyeon’s hips.

“Now you can’t claim to be cold anymore,” Junmyeon says, amused. 

“Not cold anymore,” Kāi agrees, voice muffled against Junmyeon’s neck. “You’re so warm. And nice.” 

“Nicer than Suhø?” Junmyeon jokes. 

“Of course not.”

“Now I’m offended.”

“Be offended.” Kāi chuckles bucking his hips up and pinching Junmyeon’s side to get him off of him. 

Junmyeon’s reply gets stuck in his throat at the feeling of Kāi’s hips pressing against him like that. It feels a little bit like a déjà vu remembering last night. 

Junmyeon braces himself on his elbows and Kāi slips out from under him. Junmyeon flops down on his stomach and Kāi sits beside him, grinning at him. Kāi still has this eeriness about him but it doesn’t make Junmyeon’s skin crawl anymore. Quite the opposite in fact. Kāi’s smirk and the pale, dangerous eyes make Junmyeon want to kiss him or something equally ridiculous. 

Startled by his own thoughts Junmyeon clears his throat and gets up. “I’ll take a shower,” he explains and Kāi nods. 

“Wait.”

Junmyeon raises an eyebrow at him, asking him to continue.

“You slept well, right? I didn’t bother you?” 

“You didn’t bother me at all, Kāi. Don’t worry.” 

“I liked sleeping with you. I mean just sleeping. If you do want to fuck though let me know.” 

“God, you can’t just say stuff like that,” Junmyeon groans and Kāi laughs. 

“Why not? You find me attractive and you are also attractive.” 

Junmyeon apparently had not exactly been subtle. “Well, yeah. I’m not blind.”

“Anyway, go shower.” 

Kāi looks way too smug and he’s still grinning, looking all cute and sexy on Junmyeon’s bed in his pyjamas and with his messy green hair. 

Junmyeon doesn’t have anything smart to say so he just hopes Kāi doesn’t notice his red ears as he hurries to the bathroom. 

.

Baekhyun is licking the frosting off his cupcake with too much noise. Chanyeol had gotten cupcakes for everyone (including Kāi who had been delighted). The clone is now reading in Junmyeon’s room. There is a camera in his room to keep an eye on him, in fact there are cameras all over the place, Jongdae had made sure of that. 

Originally Jongdae and Baekhyun had even wanted to bring Kāi back into the basemen for the nights, or at least chain him up in Junmyeon’s room. It’s not that they wanted Kāi to suffer, they simply didn’t want to see Junmyeon (or anyone else) hurt.

Either way, Junmyeon had absolutely refused. He had quickly learned that Kāi is a lot easier to handle when he’s treated with respect and love. 

Kāi loves reading as much as Jongin and Junmyeon isn’t sure why but he finds that very cute. 

By now Baekhyun has also eaten all of Jongin’s frosting. Jongin looks at his bald, sad cupcake with disgust but eats the rest of it anyway. 

“So you’re telling us that the dude who has been trying to kill us for the last couple of years gives you a boner?” Baekhyun asks in his usual blunt way. 

“No! I mean I guess if you want to put it that way. It’s not like that though.” 

Jongin squeals. “Hyung has feelings!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Junmyeon snorts, “I barely know Kāi.”

“You don’t have to know someone really well in order to develop a crush,” Jongin says. “People fall in love with the most random people. Just like that.”

“I think love is a really big word, Nini,” Junmyeon says, looking at their second youngest with fondness. 

“You know what I mean,” Jongin pouts. 

“Anyway,” Baekhyun says. “It doesn’t matter how much you like Kāi. The fact is that you do like him. So what are you gonna do about it?” 

“Well nothing.” 

“What the hell!” Baekhyun looks outraged. “But you told us he wants to sleep with you.” 

“Yeah.”

“And you…” Jongin says, scratching his head. “you don’t want to?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes although not unkindly. “You’re so dumb sometimes. What stops you from fucking. Like.” He looks Jongin up and down. “He’s hot. And he definitely is very much into you.”

“See I’m not sure about that,” Junmyeon says with a sigh. “From what I’ve gathered sex is just a means to an end for him. I don’t want him to feel obligated to sleep with me just because I’m nice to him. And it’s not just that he’s very attractive! Like no offence Jongin, but like I don’t want to sleep with you.” 

Jongin pouts even harder now. “You really wouldn’t sleep with me? Everyone is into me, what do you mean!” 

Baekhyun is giggling and Junmyeon choses to ignore it. “I just like the idea of being with Kāi, that’s all. You guys are making a big deal out of nothing. Like just imagine Kāi in a relationship. With me of all people! It’s so weird.” 

Baekhyun whistles, a shit eating grin on his face. “Oh we talking relationship already, huh, hyung?” 

“You know what, Byun. Fuck off.” 

“Here is my take on it,” Baekhyun says, obnoxiously chewing on his cupcake with his mouth open. “If Kāi really felt obligated to fuck you, wouldn’t he offer the same to Chanyeol and Jongdae? Or Jongin? They were nice to him too.”

.

“Kāi, what’s this?”

Kāi doesn’t reply immediately, just pulls the shirt on and sits on the bed. It’s been a couple of days now since Kāi had started living with them and sleeping in Junmyeon’s bed. 

“It’s not important,” Kāi says. 

He’s sitting haunched over as he so often does, chewing on one of his fingers. He’s dressed in whatever clothes the team gives him. Kāi has a preference for leather and the colours yellow and green. He likes to get some scissors and cut into them, transforming the shirts into crop tops, or cutting different items up to sew them back together into some sort of frankenstein outfit. He used to rip them with his hands and teeth and after a little discussion they let him use scissors. Only under supervision though. He also wears all the jewellery which he had worn the day he had been captured. That Kāi is never let out of sight doesn’t seem to bother the clone at all. In fact he seems to quite enjoy the company, listening to them speak or babbling a little bit himself. After a while he always finds a way into their arms, relishing in every hug, nose boop and hair ruffle.

Junmyeon sits beside him and lifts his hand, waiting to see if Kāi would pull away. He doesn’t, so Junmyeon hooks two fingers into the younger man’s collar and pulls it aside over his shoulder. There are red bite marks blooming along his left shoulder. With Kāi’s wounds and bruises healing these are without a doubt new. 

“Don’t stare at me like that,” Kāi says quietly. 

Junmyeon lets go of the shirt and gently touches Kāi’s chin instead, turning his face toward him. Kāi eyes don’t stand still, flitting across Junmyeon’s handsome face.  
The first couple of encounters non of Kāi’s injuries had really stood out to Junmyeon, there had been too many; from battle, from trying to get out of the basement, and from whatever the Red Force had put him through. 

“Did you… bite yourself?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, that’s not- that’s not good. It worries me. I’m here for you now, you know?”

Kāi frowns at him, his cold fingers wrapping around Junmyeon’s wrist. He’s not grabbing, more like gracing the skin there. “Don’t worry,” he says simply as if Junmyeon is the one who needs comforting and Junmyeon has to laugh. 

“You must feel stressed and probably miss your teammates, I understand.” 

“I do miss them. This has nothing to do with them, not exactly.” 

Junmyeon lets go of Kāi’s face. An undeniably pretty yet marred face. His hand naturally slips into Kāi’s hand there and he pulls his hand into his lap, holding it gently. “Please don’t hurt yourself. Talk to us, talk to me.”

“About what?” 

“Your emotions.”

Junmyeon cringes the second he says it but he means it. He wants Kāi to be comfortable around him. 

“That’s stupid,” Kāi snorts and his lips distort themselves into that crooked smile of his, baring his teeth. “I don’t like when you look so worried, you’re too gentle to be so concerned all the time. I just bite when my thoughts don’t make any sense. It’s to ground myself.” 

“Alright,” Junmyeon says. “I mean no, it’s not alright, but I get it I suppose. Next time when you feel like that come to me first. I’ll talk to you until your head feels better and you calm down.” 

“Stupid.”

“Try it.”

“Fine.” 

They look at each other, neither sure of what else to say but neither wants to let go of the other’s hand, the moment stretching on for many seconds. The tension is broken when Chanyeol slams open the door to the bedroom. 

“There is an attack,” he says with a serious look on his face, purposefully leaving out the location in Kāi’s presence. 

Kāi jumps up. “My team! I want to see them.”

“No, wait here,” Junmyeon says hurrying out of the room with Chanyeol, rushing toward the elevators. 

Kāi grabs one of Junmyeon’s arms, his pale eyes are crazed as his nails dig into his skin. Chanyeol holds the elevator door open, watching the two anxiously. “We don’t have time for this,” Chanyeol reminds and shuts his mouth when Junmyeon holds up his hand to quiet him. 

“Kāi-“

“I will see them!” 

“Kāi, be reasonable!”

“LET ME SEE THEM!”

The clone looks ready to strangle both Junmyeon and Chanyeol right here and now, white teeth flashing. 

“You don’t want to do this,” Junmyeon say, reminding him of the security system in place and all the cameras. 

“Please, Junmyeon. Please!” 

“I‘ll talk to Suhø-“

“He won’t listen!”

Junmyeon shakes Kāi off and steps into the elevator, the glass doors slamming shut between them. He sees Kāi flickering in a way that reminds him of an old, static tv. It’s like he wants to teleport but knows it’s not possible. The elevator moves and the clone is out of their sight. 

“Maybe Jongdae should stay behind,” Chanyeol suggests. 

“No, we need him.”

“What about Kāi?”

“He won’t do anything.”

“Yeah, only smash some things and break his own bones maybe.” 

Chanyeol is worried and angry at the same time, although it is unclear who he is angry at. Either way, Junmyeon doesn’t have the nerve to deal with his attitude now, so he doesn’t humour him. The elevator doors open when they arrive on the 8th floor, which is the highest of the building. 

Jongdae, Baekhyun, Sehun and Jongin are getting ready, slipping into their black combat clothes, equipping themselves with weapons. They’re done in under five minutes and board their ship. They had informed Junmyeon about which district and that they are in the middle evacuating. 

“They’re a lot more destructive than usual,” Baekhyun informs them as they flew above the buildings. 

“Elaborate?” Junmyeon inquires. 

“Usually they attack people in oder to lure us out. Their goal is eliminating us and whoever else stands in the Red Force’s way, right? They don’t seem to care this time. They’re fucking up everything, streets, buildings, cars, whatever. They don’t have a target.”

“They’re mad,” Jongin whispers. “They want him back.”

.

Sehun removes the wet cloth from Junmyeon’s side and puts a medical plaster over it. He presses it onto the skin, making Junmyeon hiss in pain. 

“Sorry,” Sehun mumbles and removes the backing of the plaster. 

It’s not an ordinary band aid, it’s translucent and specifically made for burns. This particular burn is thanks to an enraged Chanyeøl. Junmyeon doesn’t want to complain since Jongin has it a lot worse, getting a full load of Chën’s lightning that would have definitely killed a normal human. So their second youngest is currently unconscious and being taken care of by Baekhyun.

They’re back on the ship and X-EXO had wreaked havoc to an extend they never had before, except for the very first time they had been unleashed five years ago. That day EXO had barely made it out alive, disturbed and broken, unable to recover for weeks. They’re better fighters now, capable and a lot smarter. Chën had done the most damage today. He’s actually the one Junmyeon is the most afraid of. He’s very cold and calculated, a lot less unhinged than the rest of them. He barely moves, just stands there untouchable, surrounded by pure electricity. In fact non of them had ever really see him up close, only on pictures. The air around him is so loaded they don’ dare to get too close. Jongdae is practicing hard to get to his level but he has a long way to go. 

Kāi had been right. Suhø had been impossible to talk to, he had been too blinded by anger and grief. Despite all his power, being so reckless and uncoordinated had been a shot into his own foot and EXO had managed to push back.

. 

Kāi is disappointed. He had dragged the mattress back into Junmyeon’s room and curled up on it. He had tried to read his book but he couldn’t focus. He hears them coming back but has no intention on moving. He curls up more into himself. He listens to them talk and get cleaned up, changing into more comfortable clothes. They had all survived. Kāi tries to tell himself he doesn’t care. All of them stick their head into the room to check up on him. Kāi pointedly ignores them, even when Jongin and Sehun touch his arm to see if he’s even awake. Something inside Kāi wants to hug them because he’s been alone all day and he feels miserable. 

Eventually Junmyeon comes into the room and Kāi smells hot chocolate. He places the mugs on his desk and then goes to kneel beside Kāi’s mattress. 

“I’m sorry. I was being insensitive this morning. You understand why I couldn’t bring you, right?”

Junmyeon sighs when Kāi doesn’t respond, doesn’t even move. They had been here before. The difference is that now Junmyeon cares so much and he’s so very fond of this person he’s not letting him get away with the silent treatment. 

“Kāi, don’t be childish. Come on, I made us hot chocolate. I can make you something to eat too.” 

He doesn’t actually expect Kāi to give in so easily. Kāi unfolds himself and slowly sits up although he refuses to look at Junmyeon. He reaches out and carefully touches Junmyeon’s side. Junmyeon is freshly showered and he had treated his wounds properly now. He’s only wearing his pyjama bottoms and a pair of fuzzy socks.

“Who did that? Xiůmin or Chanyeøl?”

“Still no sign of Xiůmin.” 

Kāi smiles mildly. “Ah,” he says. “they’re still giving you guys a hard time then?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” 

“I understand why you behave the way you do,” Kāi says, surprising Junmyeon. “That doesn’t mean I approve of it. I know my team better than you. If I had been there he wouldn’t have burned you.”

“They destroyed a whole district.” 

The amused smirk on Kāi’s face is a little unnerving.

“You want me to listen to you,” Kāi continues. “But you won’t listen to me. You always try to tell me that my masters are evil. Yet you treat me like this ?” 

“It’s not like that.”

“But it’s similar enough to make me question your intentions.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I hate when people apologise just because they don’t know what to say.” 

Kāi gets up abruptly and goes to the desk, picking up one of the mugs and gulps down the entire drink before slapping the mug back on the desk unnecessarily hard. He goes back to the bare mattress and curls up on it again, his back to Junmyeon. 

Junmyeon lets him be for a while, going to the living room to be with his teammates until they one by one start going to bed. He returns to his room with Kāi half asleep. Junmyeon quietly closes the door and grabs the blanket and pillows from his bed and takes them with him to where Kāi is lying. He gently lifts Kāi’s head and puts a pillow under it and then covers the both of them with the blanket. He nuzzles close to Kāi. 

“I’ll take you with us next time. Let’s go to the training rooms tomorrow, you can use your powers there.”

He can feel Kāi physically respond to that. The clone turns around and wordlessly wraps his arms around Junmyeon. Junmyeon buries his face in his chest and closes his eyes. 

“Don’t sulk anymore please.”

“Okay.” 

“Okay. Good night.”

“Night, hyung.” 

.

Junmyeon is positively surprised that no one disagrees when he suggests that Kāi should join them in the training rooms. 

Kāi is fidgety and he’s chewing on his thumb while they take the elevator down. He’s very excited. Junmyeon can’t help looking at him to catch his little smiles. “Don’t forget that you can teleport anywhere within the training rooms, but nowhere else in the building. And of course you can’t leave the building either.” 

Kāi of course doesn’t like that so he just gives Junmyeon a brief, sour look but doesn’t comment on it. He knows that Junmyeon trusts him but that he still has every right to be wary of Kāi. At the end of the day Kāi is still a prisoner who would rather be with his team than them. 

“How do you train?”

“Well we challenge each other,” Junmyeon explains, “We also have simulations and dummies. Do I want to know what you guys do?”

“Probably not. Curious?” 

“A little?” 

With a little ding the elevator doors open and they step into a grey corridor. They have changing rooms and showers here, which they pass for now. The training rooms are made up of two halls. One of them offers simulations and the other one is for everything else. On the right side there is something similar to a balcony but it’s a landing platform. The vehicles that usually stand there are missing so two of them are either working on their piloting skills or Chanyeol and Jongin had once again taken them to race each other. Junmyeon used to be more strict with them but these days he doesn’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed to have fun. 

Baekhyun and Sehun are currently sparring, no weapons and no powers. 

“It’s funny,” Kāi says. 

Junmyeon looks at him. “What?”

“The way you guys use your power, no wonder you’re so weak.”

“Not that weak!” 

Kāi looks amused. “You treat your power like it’s a tool, a source you can use just in case, rather than using your gift as an extension of yourself. For us our powers are what we are, like our legs and arms, we use it naturally. I’ve noticed that you don’t do anything with your powers in your every day life. It shocked me because the last couple of weeks I’ve felt… like I had to learn not to walk, not to breathe.” 

Junmyeon thinks about Kāi’s words for a while. It’s true, they barely use their powers, they only use them when they have to. Minseok sometimes cools his drink and that’s about the extent of it.

“You see-“Junmyeon begins but Kāi is gone. 

Junmyeon has no time to panic since the clone immediately reappears on the other end of the room. Even from the distance Junmyeon can clearly make out the man’s wicked smirk. It’s a lot less invidious and more joyful. He’s only there for a second. Junmyeon catches moments of him all over the room. Junmyeon shakes his head and goes to Sehun and Baekhyun who have stopped sparring in an attempt to keep track of Kāi. 

“Jongin is like super slow in comparison,” Sehun says, astonished. 

It always takes Jongin a couple of seconds. He’s gotten a lot quicker though and he’s been trying to incorporate it more neatly into his fighting style. 

“Why do I have the feeling that when we fight X-EXO we never see them at full capacity?” Baekhyun says, saying out loud what Junmyeon has been thinking for a while now. 

“Maybe they don’t want to win,” Sehun says. 

“But why?”

Sehun just shrugs. “Anyway, hyung. Up for a little duel?” 

Junmyeon cracks his neck with a smile. “Sure.” 

.

As expected Kāi is a pro at everything. The first day he had just joked around but the second time Junmyeon takes him down here he is more serious and tries to join the others. Kāi gives Sehun tips on shooting. The clone had hit every target with ease. Fighting really is part of his nature. Chanyeol challenges him to a duel the next day. Chanyeol’s fire hardly gets to him, Kāi is too quick and he gets Chanyeol to surrender within minutes, a hand around the taller man’s throat. Kāi’s expression softens immediately and so does his grip. The touch turns into affection as he pats Chanyeol’s cheek before wandering off somewhere else. 

Junmyeon has been watching them while taking a break, leaned against the wall. They’re all in typical gym clothes, except for Kāi; he’s in black leather pants and a yellow leather jacket. Kāi is still skinnier than Jongin but by far not as gaunt as when he had first arrived here. He sits down opposite Junmyeon, legs crossed and grins at him. 

“Hey,” Junmyeon says, smiling back. “You okay?”

“Yeah. You? You’re so quiet today.” 

“Just thinking.”

“Oh perhaps about me?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve been looking at me more than usual.” 

“Sorry.” 

“No, I like when you look at me.” 

Junmyeon laughs and lets Kāi crawl closer and into his lap, arms wrapping around his neck. Junmyeon can’t help himself, Kāi has been so very cute and cuddly. It had made Junmyeon realise something; He always wants him close. When Kāi hugs someone else Junmyeon would rather Kāi hug him. It’s not jealousy, it’s just that Junmyeon likes Kāi’s affection as much as Kāi likes being coddled. He’s addicted to Kāi looking at him as if he hung all the stars in the universe. 

Junmyeon’s hand finds its way to Kāi’s bare waist and he rubs his thumb against the skin. 

“I’ve never seen you use your powers here,” Kāi says, absently raking his fingers through Junmyeon’s dark hair. 

“Using water as a weapon seems so-“ Junmyeon shrugs a little helplessly. “wrong. I avoid doing it.”

“It’s not wrong.” 

Kāi looks confused, a little wrinkle between his brows. Junmyeon nudges his chin with a finger and Kāi playfully snaps his jaw at it. 

“Water is life and it’s peaceful.” 

“Not always. Are you trying to tell me the sea is peaceful?” 

Junmyeon can’t disagree with him on that one. “Either way, it feels wrong. Wanna know one of my biggest fears?”

Kāi nods. 

“Drowning.” 

Kāi looks at him for a long time. For a moment Junmyeon wonders if he did something wrong but then Kāi’s hands are on his cheeks and he leans down to press the gentlest kiss Junmyeon had ever had to his lips. 

Junmyeon hears Baekhyun whistle and Chanyeol giggling somewhere. “Fuck off,” he tells them loudly and is glad no one else had seen it. 

Kāi doesn’t let go of his face and when he speaks it’s the most sincere he’s ever sounded. “He did this to you, didn’t he? Suhø? The first time you guys met us.”

Junmyeon swallows. Suddenly Kāi’s face unsettles him but he catches himself by actually pulling Kāi closer. Face in the crook of his neck, he inhales. Kāi smells like home, he’s been here for that long. Junmyeon eventually pulls back and gestures for Kāi to get up so he can stand. 

“Let’s get lunch together,” he says. 

“Okay.” Kāi sounds so small. 

Junmyeon wraps an arm around him as he leads him out of the training rooms and to the elevators. They make their way to the apartment in silence. 

The day Junmyeon had first seen X-EXO is now a blur in his memory. He remembers that he’s never been more terrified in his life. Kāi had actually been the first clone he had ever seen. He had assumed it was Jongin but of course this hadn’t been the case. This creature had had green hair, he’d been pale as a ghost with empty, pale eyes. He had bared his teeth and gums, some black, red substance dripping from his mouth. There had been no outer injuries to the body, but something had definitely been malfunctioning at the time. In retrospect Junmyeon is pretty sure that the clones had not been ready to be sent out, let alone to fight. Kāi had vanished before his eyes, his cackle ringing in Junmyeon’s ears even after he had left and instead he saw Suhø walking toward him.

Junmyeon had not known his name then. He had just seen a gruesome, grotesque version of himself. Bright red hair, the same dark substance that Kāi had been throwing up had been smeared all over Suhø’s hands, it had been coming out of his eyes, his nose, his mouth, drenching him and his black suit. He had been barefoot then, no jewellery, nothing, just him coming closer and closer not bothered by his body protesting its very own existence. A giant wave of water had crushed down on Junmyeon and the water simply wouldn’t stop, it’s constant pressure keeping him on the ground. Just before losing consciousness it had stopped and Suhø had been above him, hands tight around his neck he had squeezed and he had laughed while killing him. The red-black fluid had dripped down on Junmyeon’s face as well and somehow water had filled his mouth and he had been utterly helpless, not strong enough to counter this with his own control on water. Baekhyun had saved him, distracting Suhø. They had barely come out of this alive.

The second time Junmyeon had seen Suhø he had been different. His blue eyes had been more intense, he had switched to red clothes, and he had worn expensive rings and bracelets. Over the years he had witnessed Suhø drown people more than once.

In the living room Kāi tells Junmyeon to sit on the sofa and he goes into the kitchen to get snacks and make tea. Junmyeon’s eyes follow him fondly. He takes the opportunity to quickly go to his room and change into a set of fresh clothes. When he comes back Kāi is frowning, nagging him about leaving when he had told him to stay put. 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Junmyeon grins and pulls Kāi with him back onto the sofa. 

After putting their food on the coffee table, Kāi goes willingly, snuggling close and without hesitation finds his mouth again. Kāi kisses him a lot less gentle this time. 

“I’m sorry,” Kāi says, pressing their foreheads together, “for ever scaring you. I’m so sorry.” 

“Oh Kāi.” Junmyeon brushes Kāi’s hair behind his ear although it’s not long enough to stay there. “It’s alright.”

“It’s not. You know, I never thought someone who isn’t us could love me but you’ve been so good to me. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve been created to destroy and obey, it’s the only reason why I exist but now you’ve shown me all this… I don’t know what to do.” 

“Please stay with me.” 

“I can’t. Not forever.” 

They both know Kāi is loyal to his team, it doesn’t matter how much he likes Junmyeon and the others. Junmyeon can’t think of a solution so he just kisses Kāi again because that is something he can certainly do, something where they both win. He holds the clone’s head in place as he pushes his tongue in and Kāi lets out a small moan, hands gripping at Junmyeon’s clothes. Junmyeon is a little surprised by Kāi’s quick submission but he’s not going to reject this, not when Kāi is so willing to let him take control. Junmyeon pushes him back, fitting between his slender legs perfectly. Kāi looks so good under him, eyes hooded and plush, wet lips parted. 

Junmyeon half wonders why Kāi had kissed him now, seemingly so random in the training rooms. 

“You didn’t want to do this before,” Kāi says as if he can read his mind. 

“You’re so sweet,” is all Junmyeon can think of to say.

“And you’re so hot, come back down here.” 

Junmyeon isn’t sure for how long they make out but it feels right and warm and he’s never been more turned on by someone in his life. He doesn’t realise the hand Kāi sneaks between the two of them until it’s cupping his erection. Junmyeon hisses, breaking their kiss. Kāi looks smug and happy as he presses against Junmyeon’s hard cock. 

“I did this, let me take care of it.” 

Junmyeon forbids himself from overthinking this time and kisses Kāi again before moving lower and kissing his neck. He pushes the jacket aside and sucks on skin, avoiding the spots which Kāi had marked. Kāi slips his hand into Junmyeon’s sweatpants and boxers and begins stroking his dick without wasting any time. They moan and whisper and kiss and Junmyeon is pretty sure this is the best handjob he’s ever received. 

They look into each other’s eyes and smile. Kai’s eyes are pale and as always the skin around them is reddened. These are not the eyes of someone already dead wanting to cause more death. Kāi looks at Junmyeon, so desperately, so very fondly and fixated. 

“I like you so much,” Kāi breathes.

“I like you too. You make me feel so good.” 

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna cum.” 

Kāi withdraws his hand and pushes at Junmyeon’s shoulder, making him sit up. Kāi slides off the sofa and onto his knees on the carpet. Junmyeon watches in awe as he pulls the sweats down and wraps his lips around Junmyeon’s dick, sinking down slowly. The wet heat feels incredible and Junmyeon’s hand naturally buries itself into the green hair.  
When he comes into his mouth Kāi swallows everything and Junmyeon immediately pulls him back up to give him even more kisses.

. 

Jongin is sprawled over the floor of the training rooms, his clothes are soaked in sweat. 

“This is not fun at all,” he complains. 

“I think it’s fun,” Kāi says. 

He’s standing beside Jongin with his hands on his lips. Unlike Jongin he’s not exhausted at all. He crouches down to talk more comfortably. 

“You can take it slow,” Kāi says.

There is hesitation in his voice, like he’s surprised by his own words. 

“Whata is it?” Jongin asks him, taking his hand. 

“I want you to take your time because you have the luxury to do so. It’s not just that I’m better than you because I’m born better. I’m not only an upgraded version of you, I was trained differently.”

“They were too strict on you.” 

“Maybe but look at the results.”

“Life isn’t just about the results, Kāi.”

Kāi grins and helps Jongin sit up. “What do you mean? You’re quite competitive yourself, otherwise you wouldn’t try so hard to match my abilities.”

Jongin pouts at him but doesn’t disagree. “So what did they do to you? I mean- of course you don’t have to tell me but if you wanna talk… I’m here, yeah?”

Kāi eyes Jongin warily. Jongin doesn’t resent him for his mistrust, after all Kāi barely trusts Junmyeon and Jongin is pretty sure he’s like in love with that man. 

“Let’s just say there is a reason Jongdae’s lighting can tame me so easily. He did it to protect you guys from me and Chën did it to protect me from worse. Weakness was never an option for us.” 

Kāi doesn’t want Jongin’s pity but he can’t be mad at him either. He lets him give him a hug. He lets himself think about training back at the Red Force’s headquarters; Teleporting until he wasn’t even sure whether he still existed, getting electrocuted every time he re-appeared. It’s been a very, very long time since that had happened. Kāi had succeeded, getting so fast Chën couldn’t struck him anymore. 

“Nini, you look like you need a break,” Junmyeon comments, as he strolls over to them. 

“I don’t need a break,” Jongin says, dusting off his pants, “I need a shower and this training sessions to be over.” 

He smiles at Kāi, squeezes his shoulder and makes his way to the elevators. 

“I think we deserve to finish early too,” Junmyeon says and puts his hand on Kāi’s cheek. 

He strokes his thumb over his cheek bone. “Hey? Kāi, are you ok?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. Let’s try one last thing before we go up.”

“Alright.” 

“I’ve been sparring a lot with Chanyeol without using our powers, it’s actually fun.” 

“Oh?” Junmyeon smirks and gets into position. “Bring it on.” 

Kāi attacks first as he tends to do and Junmyeon dodges as he tends to do. Junmyeon isn’t as strong as Chanyeol but he’s quicker. In the same movement he kicks out, making Kāi lose balance. They keep going for a few minutes. It starts out playful and Kāi giggles a lot. Junmyeon should have been more careful, he should have seen Kāi’s smile turn into that teeth-baring grimace he used to fear. Something inside the clone snaps. 

Kāi teleports within a second. With his hands around Junmyeon’s throat he slams him to the ground, his long legs on either side of him. 

Kāi presses down on the trachea and he just laughs. Over time Junmyeon had learned to not let fear or emotion paralyse him. His hands wrap around Kāi’s wrists. He can’t grab him properly though, Kāi keeps flickering. 

“Kāi, stop, stop!” 

He doesn’t. Nobody else is in the training rooms anymore and Junmyeon knows that while Kāi can use his powers he can’t do anything, he wouldn’t be quick enough to use water either. Kāi was created to kill, to use his powers to be fatal; whether it’s teleporting so that his hand gets stuck inside another human to rip their organs out or teleporting on the same spot over and over again in milliseconds so he can’t be seized. The thing is that Junmyeon believes in Kāi despite everything. He lets go of his wrists, doesn’t fight back. He lets his head fall back as he slowly loses consciousness. 

And then suddenly it’s all gone and Junmyeon can breathe again. He rolls to his side, hands flying to his throat and coughing. He can still hear Kāi, but it doesn’t sound like laughter anymore. When he looks at the clone he’s sobbing, face in his hands. He crawls over to him and pulls his hands from his face. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry,” Kāi hiccups. 

His entire body is trembling, and he meekly tries to pull his hands free. When he’s not teleporting he’s physically weaker than Junmyeon. Kāi struggles to get away, shaking his head. He also tries to bite his own arm but Junmyeon pulls Kāi closer, making sure Kāi’s chin is hooked over his broad shoulder and he wraps his arms around him so the clone can’t move. 

“It’s okay,” Junmyeon says, calm as ever. Although his voice is a little rough. “I’m okay. See?”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I know. Nothing happened.” 

Kāi is writhing around for few moments but gives up eventually, sagging against Junmyeon. 

.

Kāi won’t look at Junmyeon. He’s also not on the bed but on the floor, leaned against the wall. 

“You skipped dinner,” Junymeon says with a sigh. “Please eat. Also please get up.”

Kāi shakes his head like a defiant child. 

“You’re not sleeping on the fucking floor, Kāi.”

“I can do what I want.”

“Come on, don’t be a brat. I didn’t tell the others you tried to kill me by the way. They’re worried that you didn’t eat.”

Kāi blinks at him and then drops his head to his pulled up knees. “I’ve never felt guilty about… this.”

“Losing control?”

“I used to take pleasure in losing control,” Kāi confesses, “I’d just let go and enjoy it. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I regret ever hurting you.” 

“Good. I trust you.”

Kāi looks up, frowning. “Trust me? After today?”

Junmyeon just shrugs. “The fact that you didn’t kill me is proof that you don’t want to harm us. You would have weakened this team immensely if you had killed me. We both know you could have.” 

Kāi bites his lip and stands up and walks right into Junmyeon’s open arms. Kāi misses his team and he worries about them, he doesn’t want to see them fail. However he’s never felt more safe than when he’s with Junmyeon. The leader’s hands on his waist oddly feel like freedom. Kāi holds Junmyeon’s face and he forces himself to truly look, to focus on the features of the man he holds so dear. He has the sweetest awkward smile, round apple cheeks and thick eyebrows Kāi really likes touching for some reason. Kāi is nervous. A weird feeling for someone who usually lacks all impulse control. Kāi concludes that he cares, and it makes him feel weak. As he had told Jongin earlier, weakness had never been an option. Now that he’s feeling like that and being held like that, he realises he quite likes feeling weak. There it is again, that little spark of freedom, he doesn’t have to be a killing machine.

Junmyeon simply allows him to be.

Kāi has never felt these kinds of emotions before, has no idea why his heart is racing, why he is so immersed in Junmyeon’s eyes, so sensitive to his touch. He can’t accurately put it into words therefore he leans down and connects his lips with Junmyeon’s. Junmyeon’s response is swift, pressing closer, holding him tighter, kissing him harder. 

They move to the bed as if on autopilot. Kāi wants nothing more than Junymeon on top of him again, wants to feel Junmyeon hold him down and spoil him. When Kāi’s back hits the mattress, Junmyeon breaks the kiss and Kāi whines at the loss of his mouth. Junmyeon smiles warmly and kisses him again briefly. 

“I’m not going anywhere.” 

He hurries to take his shirt and trousers off before settling between Kāi’s legs. Right where he belongs, Kāi thinks. They continue kissing, riling each-other up more and more with every passing minute. Junmyoen had pushed Kāi’s shirt up, hand roaming over his abdominal muscles, his chest, rubbing against his nipples. The clone whimpers, arching his back. That’s when Junmyeon leaves his addicting mouth and moves lower, kissing along his cheek, neck and chest, lips eventually closing around one nipple. Kāi moans, grabbing a handful of Junmyeon’s hair. 

“F-fuck,” he grits out, pushing his hips up, pressing his hard dick against Junmyeon’s stomach. Junymeon smugly moves on to the other nipple to suck and bite on it while his fingers play with the other one. 

Kāi doesn’t even try to stop all the noises bubbling up and coming out of his mouth. “Ah- please, Junmyeon… hyung, please.”

With a last lick over Kāi’s nipple Junmyeon moves lower again, leaving butterfly kisses in his wake. “Baby,” he says between kisses, his voice so deep and calm, sending shivers down Kāi’s spine, “what are you begging for? You don’t have to beg, just ask.”

Kāi moans at his words. He can’t help himself and slips his own hand into his pants. “Hyung, h-hyung…”

“Yes?”

“Love me, please.”

Junmyeon’s heart melts. “Oh god,” he breathes, impatiently pulling Kāi’s trousers down.

He kisses every inch of skin that is revealed. On one hand he wants nothing more than fuck Kāi into oblivion right this instant, and on the other hand he wants to enjoy every single second, wants to worship the beautiful man under him like he deserves. 

Kāi is shameless exposing himself, spreading his legs, inviting Junmyeon to do whatever he wants. Junmyeon’s lips ghost over Kāi’s hard dick and cute hole. “You’ll be the death of me.” 

Kāi giggles, nudging the side of Junmyeon’s face with his thigh. “That’s kind of an ironic statement, don’t you think?” 

“Maybe. This feels good to you too, right?”

“Yeah, feels perfect.” 

Junmyeon gives Kāi’s dick an appreciative lick. 

“Hyung!”

“Turn around for me, okay?” 

Kāi obeys, rolling onto his stomach and getting on all fours. In the meantime Junmyeon has grabbed the lube from the nightstand drawer (something he hadn’t made use of ever since Kāi had started spending his nights with him). He wastes no time spreading Kāi’s ass cheeks and licking between them, tonguing at his entrance with enthusiasm. 

“Fuuuck, hyung…” 

Kāi moans, his arms giving in when Junmyeon pushes in. He’s never been eaten out before. It feels incredible and intimate and Kāi really doesn’t know what to do with himself. He hears Junmyeon uncapping the bottle of lube and throwing the bottle somewhere after. He inserts the first slick finger carefully and slowly. No one has ever been this gentle with him, it makes tears gather in his eyes. It’s too good. He can only continue to moan at Junmyeon’s ministrations.

The finger pushes in and out of his hole until suddenly it’s two fingers, exploring what Kāi enjoys, what makes him moan the loudest, what makes him shiver and leak pre come on the sheets. That’s how Junmyeon opens him up, with his fingers and tongue. The combination is unlike anything Kāi had ever felt. He let’s Junmyeon take care of him. 

However Kāi is not exactly a patient person and his pain tolerance is high. “Hyung, it’s fine. S-stop and fuck me already.” 

Junmyeon does pull back although he leaves his fingers inside the younger man, adding a third one. Kāi just whimpers, hands scrambling to find something to hold onto. Junmyeon relishes in spreading Kāi’s hole out for just a little longer before completely withdrawing and turning him back around. 

Kāi’s eyes are half closed, he’s flushed and panting. Junymeon dives down to kiss him senseless, letting Kāi cling to him desperately. When they part it’s only for Junmyeon to throw Kāi’s legs over his shoulders. Kāi is so pretty like this, bent in half just for him. 

“You’re so beautiful.” 

“You’re beautiful too, hyung.” 

Kāi reaches out to touch Junmyeon’s face. “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” 

It’s Junmyeon’s turn to blush. He’s got this gorgeous man under him ready to get fucked, the head of his dick is literally nudging against his entrance, and now of all times he has to get flustered and overwhelmed by the endless affection he has for Kāi. Junmyeon only moves because Kāi is getting restless, pushing his ass up and almost getting all pouty. 

Junmyeon is as gentle as ever once he actually starts pushing in. Kāi really isn’t used to this treatment. People are rough with him and he does like it rough. That doesn’t mean he’s not enjoying this, he feels so precious and loved and he hopes that Junmyeon feels this as much as he does. Junymeon is not the longest dick he’s ever taken but his girth is impressive and the stretch of it has Kāi’s eyes rolling back in his head.

“Fuck, you feel so good, baby.”

Kāi whimpers some more, incapable of forming actual words. He’s lost in the feeling of Junymeon. Junmyeon on him, inside him, Junmyeon’s noises, his hands, his skin, his everything.

“You like when I call you baby?”

Kāi nods eagerly, hands clawing at the pillow under his head. Junmyeon bends Kāi’s legs even more when he kisses him. Kāi can’t move anywhere, he’s trapped and he loves it, loves that it’s Junmyeon. 

Junymeon is all the way in now and Kāi squeezes around him, feeling that delicious thickness. He feels so full and good. “Move, hyung. Please, please, fuck me. I’m all yours.” 

So Junmyeon does, pulling his hips back and thrusting back in. Kāi sighs and squeezes his eyes shut in pleasure.  
Junmyeon repeats the motion until he slowly builds up a rhythm.  
His hands find Kāi’s and their fingers laze together.

While Kāi seems lost in pleasure Junmyeon can’t take his eyes off him. His wet lips are parted and he’s baring his neck. He wants to be even closer to him. Kāi seems to think the same, opening his eyes and squeezing Junmyeon’s hand. 

“Hm… hyung, wanna touch you…” 

Junmyeon let’s Kāi’s legs slip off his shoulders, hooking them around his waist instead. Kāi throws his arms around his neck, pulling him further down. Junmyeon can’t fuck into Kāi as deep as before and it takes a few thrusts for him to find the spot that has Kāi gasping. He picks up pace, making sure to hit Kāi’s prostate every few thrusts. The clone’s mouth is hanging open, fingers digging into Junmyeon’s shoulder and hair. Pre-cum has gathered on Kāi’s stomach and is slowly trickling down onto the covers. His legs are trembling and he keeps clenching around Junmyeon. Junmyeon doubts it’s on purpose, he must be close. He takes ahold of one of Kāi’s thighs, pushing it up. At this point Kāi is completely pliant, absolutely content with getting manhandled. He couldn’t have held himself up even if he tried, but most of all he doesn’t want to. 

He almost shouts when he feels Junmyeon’s hand on his neglected cock but he slaps his hand away. “No, wait, I wanna cum like this.”

“Just from this?” Junmyeon grinds his cock as deep into him as he could, assaulting his prostate over and over again, making Kāi see stars.  
He throws his head back, whole body shuddering when his orgasm hits. Junmyeon fucks him through it with shallow movements. He holds him close and wipes the tears that had escaped away with his thumb. 

They remain like this until Kāi’s breath evens out and he’s stopped crying. Junmyeon is about to pull out to finish himself off, or maybe Kāi will even blow him again. 

Kāi stops him a second time today. “No, go on.”

“Are you sure?”

Kāi’s smile is tired but he looks determined. “Yes, I want you to.” 

He pull’s Junmyeon’s face down and kisses him profoundly with everything he has. “Use me,” he breathes against Junmyeon’s lips. “Cum inside me.” 

Junmyeon might be the one in control but he wants to fulfil Kāi’s every wish, so he starts fucking him again in earnest, fucking him hard and bruising his lips with his lips. Kāi moans pathetically underneath him, spurning Junmyeon on with every noise and motion. It’s Kāi’s submission and sensitivity that pushes Junmyeon over the edge. 

.

Kāi doesn’t let Junmyeon go for a while, wanting to keep feeling him inside him. Junmyeon ends up carrying him to the bathroom, only pulling out after getting the shower to the right temperature. Kāi always seeks out closeness and now he’s even more clingy and giggly, stealing little kisses as they stay in each-other’s arms, swaying under the water like they’re dancing. 

Despite loving touch Kāi isn’t a warm person. He’s warm now though, dressed in one of Junmyeon’s sweatshirts and boxer shorts, looking at him with hooded eyes. It would be too much to say his gaze is soft but there is softness in his pale eyes. They’re facing each other, legs entwined under the blanket. Kāi had been chewing on his thumb again so Junmyeon wraps his arms around him. Kāi melts into him, hugging him back. 

“Torture and death doesn’t scare me,” Kāi mumbles. 

Junmyeon strokes his back soothingly, humming to let him know he’s listening.

“You told me one of your biggest fears the other day. I really didn’t have any fears before you guys captured me.”

‘What has changed?”

Junmyeon can feel Kāi’s hand tighten in his shirt. “Now I’m scared of having to chose. I don’t want to lose you.”

It breaks Junmyeon’s heart to see Kāi so defeated. Even in restraints, wounded and humiliated he hadn’t been like this. The opposite actually, there had been so much rage and fire inside him. Junmyeon kisses the top of his head.

“If the Red Force ordered you to kill me,” Junmyeon asks, nose nuzzled into Kāi’s messy hair, “would you?”

It’s like Kāi wants to withdraw, attempting to push away from the man next to him. Junmyeon knows he doesn’t want to go so just holds him tighter and Kāi lets him. “I don’t know. If your entire team told you to kill me after I did something terrible, would you?”

Junmyeon swallows. “I don’t know.”

“I’d like it if my team was as free as yours.

.

They have removed all of Kāi’s restrictions. He’s free and he’s taking full advantage of that. They’re not used to him teleporting all over the place and keep getting startled. Chanyeol even has to make the rule that he has to start using doors properly again. Things go smoothly for a while. Kāi isn’t one of them but he’s part of their life now. It’s also good that Junmyeon isn’t the jealous type with all the skinship Kāi seeks from all of them. 

Kāi can be insatiable. He loves these moments hidden away from the others where Junmyeon fucks him quick and rough but he also loves when they’re going slow and it stretches into what feels like hours and Kāi becomes wax in Junmyeon’s hands. Even Baekhyun - who had been the most suspicious of him from the start- is now playing video games with him. Kāi doesn’t understand why Baekhyun won’t stop laughing when Kāi says his favorite is Animal Crossing. He stops laughing though when Kāi tells him he doesn’t need a video game to blow something up. 

It’s a peaceful, rainy Sunday morning when everything goes wrong. The shrill alarm is startling Junmyeon out of his sleep. Kāi is already scrambling out of his arms and getting on his feet when Junmyeon sits up. 

“It’s them, isn’t it?” Kāi asks. 

His eyes are flitting across the room, never settling on Junmyeon. Junmyeon squeezes his arm, trying to calm him. 

“You said- you promised I can come the next time!” 

“Baby, baby, hey.” Junmyeon holds Kāi’s face and presses their foreheads together. “I’m keeping my promise. You’re coming with us. We can solve this.”

“Yes. I can do it.” 

. 

If it wasn’t for the safety belt Kāi would probably be pacing around the ship. Instead he’s just squeezing Junmyeon’s hand so hard it hurts and he’s chewing on the knuckles of his free hand again. Junmyeon tries to make him stop but this time Kāi isn’t listening. 

“We’ll be at the location in a minute,” Chanyeol says. 

Junmyeon gives Kāi worrying looks. Something is wrong. Kāi isn’t anxious, there is something else bothering him but Junmyeon can’t pinpoint what it is. Kāi is wearing tight, black jeans and his yellow leather jacket. He looks like he always had with only slight deviations. He looks a lot healthier, more humane. His eyes are still sunken, dark shadows around them. Junmyeon brings Kāi’s hand up to his lips and kisses his fingers. Kāi finally looks at him and smiles a little. 

.

The ship gets damaged, blown out of the sky by Chën. They all make it out with a few scratches and bruises. They’re trained for this after all. In the blink of an eye Kāi teleports to where Chën is standing on the roof of a building. Jongin tries to follow him but Chën blocks him easily. Jongin hisses in pain, haunched over on the wet ground unable to keep himself upright. Chanyeol runs to him to check on him while Jongdae goes after Baëkhyun who stands on another rooftop, and Sehun is doing his best to stop Sehůn from completely destroying the street.

Kāi throws his arms around Chën’s neck, demanding his full attention. Chën is so shocked to see him he forgets everything around him and just stares. Baëkhyun looks over at them and before Junmyeon can even say one word or do anything a light so bright flashes across the whole area, he has to cover his face to not get blinded. Junmyeon just hopes his teammates have done the same. The light is prickling hot against his skin. When the feeling leaves he waits for Baekhyun to tell him it’s okay to look again. 

X-EXO is gone.  
There is no sign of them. Junmyeon blinks. His vision is still blurry.

“Did they just fucking ditch?” Baekhyun says. 

“What?”

Sehun looks around. “Uh, guys, where is Kāi?” 

Junmyeon feels like someone poured ice cold water over him. Something in his chest is pulling itself together painfully. He tries to suppress the increasing panic that’s overcoming him.  
He frantically turns to every side and looks over every building. Sehun puts his hand on his shoulder. Jongdae is there, Chanyeol, Jongin and Baekhyun too. Not a trace of Kāi.

“I’m immune to my clone’s light,” Baekhyun says matter of factly, grabbing Junmyeon’s arm harshly. “He’s not here, hyung. I saw him leave with them! Willingly.”

“He could have run away ages ago” Junmyeon insists. “Why would he go now? Why would he leave me now?”

“Hyung, hyung!” Sehun says, “stop it. Let’s go home.” 

. 

“I love you,” Baekhyun says, leaning over Junmyeon, “so as your best friend I have to tell you that you’re being dramatic.” 

Junmyeon is sprawled over the sofa in their living room with a half empty bottle of wine on the coffee table. He just sighs and lets Baekhyun pour himself a glass. Not necessarily because he wants to drink but because he wants to prevent Junmyeon from drinking more. 

“I’m so stupid, Baek. I thought he wants to be with me... with us.” 

Baekhyun takes a seat in the armchair. “I’m sure he does, in a way. His loyalty has always been with the Red Force though. We knew that.”

“But we had a plan,” Junmyeon continues and sits up a little. 

“Dreaming about negotiations is not a plan,” Baekhyun says and sips on the wine. 

“I thought we could reason with Suhø’s team. Find a solution. Together.” 

“A solution to what?”

“To end this fucking fighting. This war between us as been going on for years and nothing good came out of it for either of us. Kāi could have been what connects us. A common reason for a truce.” 

Baekhyun puts the glass back on the table and stands up abruptly. 

“And then what? Did you think we were gonna braid flower crowns with them and sprint off into the sunset? I know you’re like going through the five stages of grief or something, but let’s skip to the end, alright? Acceptance. He left and we’re still at war.”

Baekhyun storms off and Sehun curiously sticks his head out of the kitchen. His gaze follows Baekhyun for a while. Then he quietly takes Baekhyun’s now empty spot in the armchair. 

“He doesn’t mean to be like that,” Sehun says. “Baekhyun is sensitive.”

“I know.”

“He’s grown very fond of Kāi, we all have. I think he’s as upset as you are.”

Sehun and Junmyeon chat until Junmyeon is tired enough to go to bed. He goes to Baekhyun’s room before retreating to see if he’s okay. Baekhyun looks like he’s been crying so Junmyeon just stays with him for half the night and they talk about everything but Kāi and X-EXO. 

.

Days pass and the silence is deafening. Junmyeon isn't sure what he had expected. He's waiting for something despite feeling like a fool. They go on about their days like they had done before ever capturing Kāi, going through every day life the way they did while Kāi had still been there. The difference is that now Junmyeon feels like there is a hole in him. He doesn't feel empty, doesn't feel numb. It's just that someone who had become a big part of his life is suddenly gone. 

One morning when Junmyeon is getting dressed he gets distracted by Kāi's clothes in the closet and he gets lost in thought. He just wants Kāi to be okay but it's not that simple. If Kāi is with the Red Force again he's his enemy and Junmyeon should not want him to be okay. Junmyeon also knows that the Red Force had never been kind to Kāi. Would he be punished for getting captured and causing Suhø to act out? Kāi vanishing must have caused huge problems over there. Junmyeon also wonders if Kāi had given up any information about them. Kāi had trained with them for weeks, he knows Junmyeon like the back of his hand. EXO has never been more vulnerable. Yet there is nothing. Only silence. No attacks, no new information, every day the higher ups just tell them that nothing is happening at all. They don't know if Kāi told them everything he found out and now they're just scheming and waiting for the perfect opportunity, or if Kāi truly kept his mouth shut. 

Junmyeon touches a green sweater that Kāi had cut into. The wool is all loose and frayed but Kāi had loved wearing it. Junmyeon takes out a pair of red, ridiculously tight leather pants. These would never fit him and Junmyeon is just reminded of how exquisite Kāi's legs had looked in them. Of course he misses the conversations he had with Kāi the most, the cuddling, the whole comfortable atmosphere between them, his devious grin, his cackle, but he also misses his body, the heat of it, Kāi's moans, Kāi's hands, Kāi's tongue...  
Junmyeon sighs and stuffs the pants back into the closet before slamming its door shut and rushing out of the room.

.

To Junmyeon it had felt like an eternity when in reality it's only been two weeks. An attack just outside their headquarters. Junmyeon sees it with his own eyes, no need for any sort of alarms. And there he is, just standing in the street and looking up at the windows. Kāi can't see Junmyeon but he can see the clone clearly. Junmyeon's heart shatters. Kāi must have told them their location. This is it. Now the Red Force knows where they are. 

Jongin is next to Junmyeon. The boy has his mouth covered with his hands and his eyes are wet.

"Nini, we don't have time for this now," Junmyeon says firmly and clears his throat. "Let's go." 

.

This appears to be no different from any of their usual battles. Something is off though, it's not exactly the same. It's almost as if X-EXO is luring them away from the headquarters which doesn't make any sense. They're destructive as ever and Suhø is as angry as ever.

As always Suhø is targeting Junmyeon. It seems like it's only a game to Suhø, like getting under Junmyeon's skin is fun. Junmyeon is drenched in water, sending brutal blows at Suhø which the clone manages to counter. Junmyeon's breath catches in his throat when Kāi teleports right next to Suhø and touches his arm so tenderly. Suhø lets up on Junmyeon, who staggers. Suhø grabs Kāi's jaw for a moment and then turns around and leaves. Junmyeon should check where he is going and what he is going to do. What if he attacks another member, or floods a building. 

When Kāi looks at Junmyeon the clone has the audacity to smile. Junmyeon blinks once and then Kāi is so much closer, so close that Kāi can put his hand on his chest. Kāi pushes and Junmyeon has to walk backward to prevent Kāi's hand sinking into him. It's one of Kāi's techniques. He's doing this instead of using physical strength to corner someone. 

Kāi doesn't look good. He looks sick, almost ghoulish. He's paler, his cheeks sunken. He's wearing a zipped up green leather jacket, skinny jeans and his usual assemble of jewellery. The left side of his waist looks bruised, his lip is split, he has a black eye. Kāi pushes Junmyeon up against the cold wall of the headquarters. There is no-one here but them. 

"Kā- hmpf-"

Kāi kisses him, presses so close not a sheet of paper would have fit between them. Junmyeon is a little ashamed of how slow his reaction is. Maybe he's letting this happen on purpose, part of him doesn't want to pull away. Junmyeon closes his eyes. He had truly missed him and he can't remember Kāi ever kissing him this desperately. Kāi's kiss is full of desperation and he clings to Junmyeon like he will never let go. 

Eventually though Junmyeon does pull away. 

"Kāi, what the fuck. What is-"

"I had some stuff to do."

Junmyeon angrily tries to shake Kāi off. "Clearly! What's wrong with you, you guys coming here is gonna kill us!"

"No, no, hyung."

Kāi looks distressed, his hands are shaking as he cups Junmyeon's cheeks. "I'm sorry. Hyung, I love you, nothing has changed."

"I can't do this." 

Kāi looks like he wants to argue or just kiss Junmyeon again. He steps away though, staring at nothing. 

"I won't let anyone harm you," Kāi says quietly. 

"Funny. Because Suhø was just trying to murder me."

"They're protective. See, they're not fully convinced yet."

"Convinced of what?"

"You look sad."

"Kāi..."

Kāi sighs, clasping his hands together. Junmyeon can tell that he wants to bite his fingers. "We want to eliminate the Red Force. You guys will never be able to do it alone. We have more resources and we're stronger."

Junmyeon can't process Kāi's words fully right now. He just knows Kāi hasn't betrayed them. Although Junmyeon still doesn't trust him or his intensions he extends a hand which Kāi immediately takes and kisses and suddenly he's in Junmyeon's personal space again. Junmyeon wraps his arms around him and Kāi buries his face in his neck. 

"Oh baby," Junmyeon whispers. 

"I missed you so much, hyung."

"Explain everything to me. I don't understand."

"I couldn't defect from the Red Force, not without my team on my side. I also couldn't just leave once you guys let me teleport. If they found out you let me go they'd assume I conspired against them. They had to think I was imprisoned the entire time, you know."

"Tell your team to stop this attack. Let's talk."

Kāi teleports and Junmyeon is left hugging thin air. Junmyeon gets anxious for a moment, scared Kāi won't come back. To Junmyeon's relief he does come back.  
.

It's familiar. The two of them in the elevator, riding up to the living area. Kāi holds onto Junmyeon's hand the entire time. Junmyeon regards him. 

"What happened to you?"

Kāi doesn't look at him. This too is something Junmyeon is very familiar with now. "No idea what you mean."

"Where are all these bruises and cuts from?" 

Kāi swallows. "The way I know you, you'll be more hurt by this than I was."

"Please tell me."

"Of course the Red Force didn't welcome me back with open arms. They were suspicious. They hurt me to get information. I told them you captured me, kept me in a dungeon and fed me. I told them I was only with you that day because you forced me, wanted to use me as leverage. They questioned me for days but I promise I didn't say anything."

Junmyeon gets on his tiptoes to kiss Kāi’s cheek. 

"Ah, don't feel sorry for me," Kāi says sheepishly, "I've had much worse. This is nothing, this is a joke."

Kāi is still not looking at him so Junmyeon switches topic. 

"Why have you guys never killed us? We’ve been fighting for a good five years.”

Kāi squeezes Junmyeon's hand, holds it tighter. “What will they make us do once you guys are gone? A lot of us are scared or that. Being us is fun, but we’re still mere replicas of you and you’re all disgustingly human. They didn’t create us perfectly. I suppose we’re not the obedient, flawless soldiers they had hoped to create. Something inside us doesn’t want to kill you guys, it feels unnatural. I've never- we've only ever dared to discuss this among us. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not good, not like you. So that's one reason. The other thing is if anything we want revenge. The Red Force told us you want to destroy us because you hate what we are, but then you didn’t when I was at my weakest. You were as kind to me as you could and it really confused me. The only people who keep hurting me are my masters. We don't want to live like this anymore."

He pauses and finally looks at Junmyeon. "I'm not loyal to the Red Force, I'm loyal to my team and you."

.

Kāi knows it must be weird and strange for everyone. Years of bloodshed and now X-EXO is sitting in EXO's living room. It's awkward to say the least. Kāi is aware that his team isn't exactly pleased when he hugs the others and remains glued to Junmyeon's side. 

Suhø is sitting on the dining table and Chën is next to him, a calming hand on their leader's thigh. Suhø is their leader but it’s Chën who keeps their leader in check if necessary. They look regal in their dark suits.

"This is surreal," Baekhyun says, who is sitting across from them on the table. 

"Fuck you, Byun," Baëkhyun snarls and Baekhyun accusingly points at him. 

Before he can start an actual argument Jongdae speaks up. "So! We will work together to bring down the Red Force?"

"Yes," Suhø says. "The last two weeks they've once again proven to be ungrateful scum. We are way too powerful to bow to anyone." 

Suhø grits hit teeth. He really does not want to work with them but it’s the best option they have and it also makes Kāi happy.

"Darling, calm down..." Chën says, caressing Junmyeon's thigh. "What we want to say is that a shared enemy makes a team, no?" His tongue flicks out to lick his lip ring. "We need to work together. We've already called back the rest of our team. You should do the same. Let me tell you Xiůmin wasn't happy but he agrees with our decision."

"We will teach you how to improve," Sehůn says. 

"Your fire is pathetic," Chanyeøl sneers and Chanyeol growls at him. 

"Let's get along," Junmyeon pleads and Suhø rolls his eyes.

"The only reason why I'm being tranquil is because of Kāi," Suhø says. "He convinced me."

Kāi choses this moment to nuzzle against Junmyeon and Junmyeon can't help but smile. 

.

Kāi is getting out of the bathtub, his skin glistening. He lets Junmyeon wrap him in a fluffy, white towel. 

"Do you think this will work out?" Kāi asks.

"I'm not sure," Junmyeon replies honestly. 

They go into the bedroom and Kāi picks some of Junmyeon's t-shirts to wear. 

"With the Red Force gone we'll be free, right?" 

Junmyeon sits on the bed and pets the spot next to him. Kāi doesn’t listen exactly and instead just climbs into Junmyeon’s lap, one leg on either side of him. Junmyeon appreciatively kisses one Kāi’s knobby knees and then props his chin on it. Kāi smiles and runs a hand through Junmyeon’s hair. 

“We’ll be free,” Junmyeon says and Kāi beams at him. “but it won’t be easy always. There’s always people who will want to exploit you and your powers.”

Kāi grins, baring his teeth. It’s one of his joyless, more wicked grins. “They can try.” 

Kāi shuffles closer and hooks his ankles behind Junmyeon. He kisses his mouth softy.

“Your lip, doesn’t it hurt?” Junmyeon says. 

“Kiss me, it’s fine.”

Junmyeon obliges of course. They’d all find a way to work together, somehow, it’s going to be okay. 

“By the way,” Junmyeon mumbles against Kāi’s lips, hardly suppressing a smile. “you said you love me.”

“Really?” Kāi teases. “Did I say that? Must have been an accident. I don’t even like you.”

“Too bad,” Junmyeon says, pulling away. “Because I love you. Very much so I think.”

Kāi grabs Junmyeon so he couldn’t pull away even further. He pushes him onto the mattress and Junmyeon rolls them around and proceeds to kiss every inch of Kāi’s face, except the bruising around his left eye.

“Promise me something,” Junmyeon says. 

“Anything.”

“Please share important thoughts with me. If you want us to be together, we need to trust each-other.”

“I trust you, hyung.”

“But I can’t trust you.”

“I came back.”

“For which I’m grateful. I wish you would have told me though.”

Kāi traces Junmyeon’s nose and lips with a finger. “You’re right, hyung.”

“Just talk to me, please.”

“You too. When you’re worried, you’ll tell me? You have to.”

Junmyeon laughs. “Sounds like a good deal.”

Kāi playfully nips on Junmyeon’s bottom lip. “Tell me you love me again.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Junmyeon rolls off of Kāi and turns off the light with the remote. He gathers Kāi in his arms and the clone sighs in content, curling up against him. 

“You should talk to the rest of the team tomorrow,” Junmyeon says. “Properly.”

“I want to. Did they miss me?”

“They did. Baby, are you sleepy?” 

Kāi nods. 

“Let’s get some rest,” Junmyeon suggests.

“Giant breakfast tomorrow, please! With French toast.”

“That can be arranged, you glutton.” 

Kāi giggles and sticks his hands into Junmyeon’s shirt, for warmth more than anything. 

“Hyung, hold me tighter.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah. You’re so warm.”

.  
.  
.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh I really hope the prompter enjoyed reading this and that Kai was cute enough. Writing this fic was a mess because I wrote it while getting overwhelmed with uni and moving. Writing the clones was really fun, I love them. Maybe I got a little cheesy in the end but oh well.  
> Anyway, thank you for reading （＾ω＾）


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